Black box recovered in Via train derailment
Posted Feb 27, 2012 6:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada told 680News investigators are downloading information from the derailed Via Rail train’s black box, which despite being damaged in Sunday’s derailment, officials believe it will provide many answers.
Three Via employees, from Ontario, died following the train derailment in Burlington, Ontario. Two of the dead were locomotive engineers and the third was a trainee.
“[The black box will] tell us the speed, tell us whether the brakes were applied, whether he was blowing the whistle,” said police, Monday afternoon.
Via spokeswoman Michelle Lamarche said the engineer who was training, Patrick Robinson, 40, of Cornwall, Ont., was observing when the train derailed. The two other engineers were Peter Snarr, 52, and Ken Simmonds, 56, of Toronto.
All three were riding in the cab of the locomotive, and investigators are not ruling out the possibility that Robinson was driving when the train crashed. Snarr and Simmonds had more than 30 years of experience driving locomotives.
“This is a truly heart-rending situation for all of us at Via. Our sincerest condolences go out to the family members of our employees who died in the line of duty yesterday, and our thoughts and prayers to those passengers who were injured,” said Via Rail’s president and CEO Marc Laliberté.
“Last night, we immediately began to investigate the accident in order to determine the cause or causes, and will continue until we find out what went wrong, and have put in place measures to prevent any such recurrence. We will be offering our full collaboration to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada and Transport Canada in their inquiries, and will be working in concert with local authorities and CN, the track owner,” he added.
“Despite this very tragic accident, I can assure you that rail travel is still a very safe way to travel,” Laliberté said.
Officials also said the train was in the process of changing tracks when it derailed; however, investigators note it will take some time to determine the exact cause of the derailment. Federal investigators arrived at the scene of a the derailment Monday morning.
Train 92 was carrying 75 passengers to Toronto from Niagara Falls when all six cars left the tracks around 3:30 p.m. on Sunday in the Plains and King roads area, near Highway 403 and Aldershot station.
Forty-five people were injured in the derailment, one critically. Via said three passengers were airlifted to hospital with serious injuries, while 42 other passengers and one crew members were taken to local hospitals. Nine remain in hospital, while the rest have been released.
Passengers said the train started to sway left and right and back and forth before the derailment.
One passenger who was riding in the lead car said he heard a thunderous crash, a screech of metal. That’s when the car derailed, throwing people from their seats. One man was thrown through a window.
The locomotive and one passenger car flipped onto their sides and crashed into a small trackside building. Another two passenger cars were forced off the tracks into a L-shape.
Halton Police are currently attempting to contact a dozen passengers who were on the train, but who left the scene following the derailment. Meanwhile, those concerned about a loved one who may have been on board the train can contact the Via hotline at 1-888-842-6141 for information.
Via trains will continue to be detoured or replaced by chartered bus service on the Toronto-Niagara Falls and Toronto-London-Windsor routes. Passengers can check on the status of their train at 1-888-VIA-RAIL (888-842-7245) or at viarail.ca.
GO Transit said its Feb. 27 train service on the Lakeshore West line will originate and terminate at Burlington GO Station. Shuttle bus service will run to/from Burlington to connect passengers who usually take the train from Hamilton or Aldershot to the train.
Premier Dalton McGuinty has expressed his condolences, but said he still has tremendous confidence in Ontario’s railways.
“Heroic steps have been taken [Monday] morning to ensure that the lines are available for passenger use,” he said.
CityNews and 680News reporters shared their tweets (below) from the scene:
