Death on the tracks: Chilliwack's rail fatality rate is among the worst in Canada

Over the last four decades, trains have killed an average of three people a year in the Fraser Valley. They died while driving over crossings, while walking on the tracks, or in suicide attempts with an oncoming train. Almost half of the fatalities happened in Chilliwack, according to an analysis of 40 years of train fatality data.

Some of the fatalities were well-publicized in the community: the 2018 death of Matthew Jarvis, whose wheelchair became stuck on the tracks on Broadway, for example; or the 2016 suicide of Thomas Hudson, who stepped in front of a train at Young Road. But many, many others died with little recognition, only the screeching of the train’s airbrakes marking the moment they passed.

No other place in British Columbia is as deadly as Chilliwack when it comes to trains. In fact, Chilliwack has the fourth-highest number of train-related fatalities in the country, exceeded only by Toronto, Montreal, and London, Ont., according to the data reviewed by The Current.

This story discusses train fatalities, including death by suicide. If you or someone you know are thinking of suicide, help is available. Call or text 988 for Canada’s suicide crisis hotline. Call 911 if you are in immediate danger.

This story uses data from Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s Rail Occurrence Database System, which includes information on reportable accidents and incidents on federally regulated railways from January 1983 to the present. The data is updated on the 15th of each month. Data used for this story is accurate up to Aug. 15, 2024.

The information available for each incident is dependent on the details provided by the railway or the Transportation Safety Board at the time of the occurrence. As such, data for certain incidents may be unavailable. The information presented in the story is as accurate as possible, within the limitations of the dataset and human analysis. If you find an error, you can email us here.

Where the accidents happen

The Fraser Valley has a long-standing culture of people interacting with railways, and vice versa. It may be illegal, but people have long used train right-of-ways as trails between disconnected areas. In Chilliwack, the rail bridge over the Vedder River is a commonly used connection between Yarrow and Greendale. That rail bridge is also a prime location for photoshoots, despite the many no trespassing signs. In Abbotsford and elsewhere around British Columbia and the world, rail corridors are often used by pedestrians in lieu of convenient footpaths.

But the tracks can be deadly, whether a person is in a car or on foot. Since 1983, 123 people have died on tracks operated by CN and CPKC in the Fraser Valley, according to the Transportation Safety Board data.

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