Health & Safety

In Britain, almost every inch of the rail network is protected by security fencing, and the few level crossings that do remain are equipped either with gates or automatic barriers and warning bells - which is probably just as well, with train speeds of anything between 40mph and 75mph even on rural lines.

Compare this with the railway on Vancouver Island. Here, the trains (well, the train anyway) venture out onto the streets without a thought. Most, but not all, road crossings have warning lights - like at this road junction close to Nanaimo city centre.

Audible warning of the train's arrival takes the form of ear-piercing air horns on the roof of the train - and as the train passes through towns like Nanaimo, with road crossings every few hundred metres, the air horns are pretty much in constant use. Loud? Well, they can often be heard four miles away on Gabriola Island!

Now, in Britain, the driver has the extra benefit of audible warnings in the cab at the approach to every signal and crossing. A bell rings if it's clear to proceed; a buzzer sounds if the signal's at caution - and if it's at red, most trains will automatically stop.

I have to assume that there's no equivalent system on Vancouver Island. Why? Because health and safety clearly dictates that the driver (sorry, engineer) wears ear defenders to protect himself from the power of the air horns!