Airdrie's Andrew West lost his life when he didn't hear a train approaching in 2001

It's all about dedicated railroaders and citizens, aiming to save lives by educating Canadians about the hazards surrounding rail property and trains.

Operation Lifesaver is a partnership initiative of the Railway Association of Canada and Transport Canada and works in cooperation with the rail industry, government, police, unions, and many public organizations and community groups.

The goal is to prevent collisions between trains and motor vehicles. They also work to prevent trespassing incidents that lead to serious injury or death. They do this through Education, Engineering, and Enforcement. They make over 2,000 presentations per year and work with the rail industry, government, police, unions, the media, public organizations and the public to spread the word.

Every year in Canada, approximately 300 collisions and trespassing incidents occur at highway/railway crossings and along railway tracks resulting in the death or serious injury of nearly 130 people. Virtually all of these incidents could be avoided. Statistics show Operation Lifesaver education works!

Airdrie student, Andrew West was on his way home from school in 2001, walking along the CPR tracks with his headset on listening to music. He didn't hear an approaching train and lost his life 11 days before his fourteenth birthday. Andrew's mother, Roxanne West, and her mom have since campaigned in Andrew's memory to try and keep others from suffering the same fate. They go to local schools to educate students about rail safety, instilling the importance of staying off train tracks, not wearing headsets where trains come through and always being aware of your surroundings.

For West, the key word is prevention. She stresses that walking on train tracks has been romanticized in our society.

One police officer reported: "I've had the misfortune of attending 25 fatal accidents involving trains; you know what the sad part is? They were all preventable".

It's too late for Andrew West but others can learn from what happened that final day of school in June almost 11 years ago. Look for representatives of Operation Lifesaver at Airdrie's railway crossings this week giving out safety information pamplets and answering questions. You might have seen them at the First Ave. crossing, Wednesday afternoon.

Andrew West's younger sister Samantha and Municipal Enforcement Officer Maury Karch hand out Railway Safety Packages and talk with drivers about railway safety (Photo courtesy of Rebecca McKay)

Betty Melik, Andrew and Samantha's grandmother gives the family, volunteers, and law enforcement officials a pep talk before starting the Operation Life Saver blitz, Wednesday (Photo courtesy of Rebecca McKay)

For all the information you'll need on Rail Safety Week and the prevention of train tragedies, visit the Operation Lifesaver website.