VIA Passenger Train derailment, 3 train engineers killed


Caught that story on the news this morning. From the looks of what they showed on tv its surprising not more were killed. Nonetheless the crew of 3 killed was still 3 too many.
 
That's really unfortunate. I hope they find a solid reason for the accident and are able to diminish the negativity that this will surely cast on the railroad industry.
 
I am really curious as to why there was 4 crew in the loco??? I have never been in one of those units, but pretty well all of our units at CP have 3 seats. Its really unfortunate that one of em was an engineer trainee and I hope that he was not at the controls when this happened. At CP we have a very strict policy when it comes to engineer trainees, they are under the microscope pretty hard from upper management...

My thought and prayers to the crew's family members...
 
I can't find any updates on this. Have they determined a cause yet?

@CbarM: I'm not seeing any references to 4 people in the cab. I think there were just 3 people.
 
I might be a little confused on how many were on the loco at the time. The first report I saw said there was 4 and one survived, but any other reports I have seen didnt mention how many at all...
 
There was 3 in the cab, two that are required by law and a trainee.
Cheers
Willis
 
OK...I just went back and re-read the stories. 3 crew in the loco and a 4th VIA employee was injured, but I assume they were in one of the cars now...
 
CbarM said:
I might be a little confused on how many were on the loco at the time. The first report I saw said there was 4 and one survived, but any other reports I have seen didnt mention how many at all...
Click to expand...

I was confused at first too, but I think they were referring to an employee that was on the train, but not in the cab that got injured. Maybe a ticket puncher or something like that, if they have those on those trains? Im not sure, Im not that familiar with Via, but very sad and tragic nonetheless..
 
The 4th VIA employee, who was hurt but fortunately not killed, was the on-board Service Manager. That's the employee in the coaches responsible for the passengers.

Fortunately no passengers were killed, although a few were in serious condition in the hospital.

The loss of the 3 engine crew members is tragic enough.
 
keep in mind these class action law suits the people may only see a small percentage of the final $10 mil say 50k it really depends on the number of people fileing how its gonna get split....but looks like the vultures are at it again....
 
I know what happened now...this is what I read in 1 report anyways...

They were speeding. Apparently the crossover that they derailed on is rarely used, but due to conjestion ahead they had them use it. The timetable speed on the crossover is 15 MPH and they were doing 67 MPH. Signals should have indicated an Advanced clear to stop, then clear to stop, then a slow to clear at the crossovers. Maybe because they didnt use it often at all they wernt paying much attention to the signals for the area. They should be able to tell what happened easier by the recordings of the crew calling the signals out on the radio, if they did at all.

I know some of our guys dont call out signals on the radio because they are doing other paperwork and things, so they might not have that to help for evidence...
 
CbarM is right. The TSB did say that the train was 4 times the limit for that switch most others on the main line let trains switch faster, the train was still below what is allowed for the track if they had not been crossing over.
At the time of the derailment the engine was accelerating and had the horn on (waring work crews down the track) VIA rail engines are not equipped with voice recorders so they cant tell what the crew saw the signal lights set to.
http://www.canada.com/news/Deadly+Rail+derailment+caused+speeding+Investigators/6233832/story.html has more of the story and video interview from the TSB.
 
If these loco's all had voice recorders then I can bet ya dollars to donuts, every train crew would be called in for statements and then fired. Its not such a glorious job anyore and there is quite a bit of chatter between the crews about how we are all getting screwed. If the signals were called out on the radio like they are supposed to be, then the RTC will have a record of what the signal was displaying at the time they passed it...
 
oh i agree with you no doubt! As if your jobs were not hard enough, you do not need management listening in. Maybe some set up that the tape loops every 5 mins, would at least give the last 5 mins before a accident.

BTW: I am not trying to blame the crew on this, from what the TSB said, there is something that went wrong and in no way do i believe 3 crew members would ever run two sets of lights and let themselves and their train be put in such danger.
 
So, assuming what you guys are claiming will be VIA's official statement, how does this event make you feel about remote controlled / automated mainline trains?
 
Makes me feel like whoever thinks that is a good idea outa be
 
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