Father of Ste. Anne girl killed by train wants changes at railway crossing

The father of the girl who was hit and killed by a train in Ste. Anne last week says more needs to be done to make sure pedestrians have a safe place to cross the rail line that runs through the community.

Kharma Brown, 11, was riding her bike when she was hit by the train near a pedestrian crossing the runs through the tracks late Friday afternoon. 

On Monday Brown's father, Randy, visited a memorial that's been set up for his daughter at the spot she died and told CBC News Kharma was an affectionate and empathetic young girl. While choking back tears, Brown said his daughter, who would have turned 12 in January, was filled with potential, and he especially misses her smile, her laugh, and her hugs.

"She cared about everybody, even if she barely knew you, and even if you were mean to her she would be kind to you," he said. "The world is a much darker place without her, she was lighting a lot of people's lives — not just mine — but her brother, her grandmother and her mum. Her aunts and uncles. They just loved her so much. She was very loved." 

Brown said he and his family moved to Ste. Anne from Wichita, Kan. about a year ago. He said he chose the small Manitoba community because he thought it would be a safer place for his kids to grow up in than Wichita, where he says there was crime and violence.

"I was scared for them so I brought them here. It didn't quite work out right," he said.

Brown said his daughter had used the crossing where she died "hundreds of times" before, to visit her friends living on the other side.

He said the crossing does not provide the kind of protection that's needed for trains that come through at high speeds and is calling for it to be replaced by a crossing like they have in Wichita, which are raised over the rail line to allow pedestrians to safely cross over top of moving trains. 

"This is inadequate," he said pointing to the crossing. "There's always children walking back and forth through here and all it's going to take is for one of them to make a bad choice and we'll lose them too.

"We can't lose any more babies — I don't want anyone to have to go through what I've gone through."

Brown say he's made a promise to his daughter to fight for more safety features at the crossing.

"So I can squeak some sort of good out of this, because there is no other good that can come from it," he said. "Parents aren't supposed to have to bury their babies. We're supposed to watch them grow up … and I'll never see her grow up.

"That's not right. It needs to be prevented."

In a statement released late Monday Transport Canada said under the Railway Safety Act railway companies and road authorities — usually municipalities or provinces — are ultimately responsible for the maintenance and safety of grade crossings and for ensuring grade crossings are compliant with the regulatory requirements.

Transport Minister Marc Garneau offered sympathies and prayers for the girl's family after learning about the death.

The minister said his office will work with CN, the Ste. Anne municipality and police to better understand how the incident happened.