Dear Editor:

This is an open letter to the railways: I drive from Winnipeg to Calgary and/or Edmonton once a week through the winter.

I find I must constantly try to gain the attention of your engineers when adjacent to the Trans-Canada Highway so they will dim their lights. These lights are blinding, especially in a snow storm. On far too many occasions your engineers take no notice or refuse to dim.

I am left to wonder if they have families or relatives travelling out here, would they perhaps care then?

This is a blatant disregard for public safety and has to stop.

On one morning this winter before Christmas I called 911 from Borden, Sask. A train was sitting at the siding by the grain elevator facing west with all lights on and I was travelling west. I met an eastbound pick-up truck which came to a stop when he became blinded and couldn’t see the road he was attempting to make a right-hand turn onto. There were many trucks on the road coming up behind him and they were braking to avoid him.

Surely there is technology available to ensure the lights of your trains are dimmed when travelling adjacent to a highway, as your engineers can’t be trusted to do so. n

Franklin Swark Winnipeg, Man.