Calgary mom upset after child stuck on CTrain platform following Stampede parade

A Calgary mom had a terrifying experience on a CTrain ride with her kids after the Stampede parade last Friday.

Lindsay Harkema boarded the train, planning to get off at the Calgary Zoo station. When the doors opened, her three-year-old got off the train and Harkema’s stroller got stuck.

When she went to adjust the stroller to get off, the train’s doors closed — leaving Harkema and her baby inside the train, and her three-year-old on the platform.

“She was on the platform, and she heard the doors close and turned around and started banging on the door and she was very scared and calling my name, and I couldn’t get off,” the mom recalled.

When the doors didn’t open and the train pulled away, a kind stranger moved the three-year-old away from the doors.

Harkema and others started pushing the emergency button.

“And that’s when they came over the emergency line and said ‘What’s wrong?’ And I said, ‘My three-year-old is on the platform and I’m not’ and he said. ‘Well, just get off at the other station.'”

Lindsay Harkema and her three-year-old daughter at their Calgary home. The mother is calling for change after she and her daughter were separated at a CTrain station following the Calgary Stampede Parade on Friday, July 7. (Courtesy Lindsay Harkema)

Harkema is not happy that the train carried on to the next station, and that the train to catch to get back to her daughter left as Harkema’s train arrived — not held by transit — so that she could get back to her daughter, quicker.

In a statement to CityNews, Calgary Transit says that the help button on a CTrain doesn’t stop the vehicle or open the doors — it alerts the operator and the Operations Control Centre (OCC) that there is a concern onboard, and it allows staff to see and speak with the customer who has pushed the button.

“On parade day when the help button was used, our teams were able to see the three-year-old at the station and keep an eye on the child until the mother was able to return,” it continued. “They were also able to see where the next train heading back to Centre Street Station was and when it would arrive to take the mother there.

“During such a busy time, CTrains come very frequently and while we couldn’t hold the previous train, our OCC team identified that another one was only one minute away and would be able to reunite the mother and child quickly.

“We understand how scary an experience like this could be, which is why we make sure we have additional staff in our OCC to monitor and provide assistance at platforms. Our teams were keeping an eye on the child every step of the way until the mother was back,” Calgary Transit said.

The mother had a tearful reunion with the daughter, who was safe when she arrived back at the station — hugging many strangers who stayed to help.

“I don’t want any response at all honestly, I want action,” Harkema told CityNews. “I want them to make this so it never happens to anybody else again. Because again it could have been so much worse and I can’t imagine if it happened to somebody else in a worse situation.”