TORONTO — A 54-year-old Mississauga man was killed and service on the Milton GO line was suspended following a collision involving a tow truck and a train early Friday morning.
Metrolinx said the Milton GO 06:34 – Union Station 07:35 train made contact with a tow truck before 7 a.m. at the level crossing east of Lisgar GO.
Randy Muzzi, 54, of Mississauga, was killed after his tow truck was struck by the train.
The victim’s friend, Todd Keely, said Muzzi was responding to a nearby collision when he accidentally parked his truck on the train tracks while trying to give firefighters more space.
“When he backed up his truck I guess he didn’t realize that he had parked it on the track, yelled something about the people on the train, ran back to his truck with no regards to his own safety to try and move his own truck and it was too late,” Keely said.
“It’s very tragic, it’s something in this business that we live with everyday, that it can happen, and it’s just a shame that it’s happened today.”
None of the 172 passengers on the GO Train were injured and were eventually taken off the train and onto buses as officers investigated the scene, Metrolinx officials said.
A spokesman for GO said all of the proper safety measures were in place at the time of the collision.
“It appears that the signals were working as they were intended to be,” GO Transit Insp. Steve Harvey said.
“It’s a solid reminder to everybody that when you’re around train tracks we just need to have that extra due diligence.”
Peel Regional Police said the vehicle was dragged for half a kilometre on the track and Muzzi was pronounced dead at the scene.
Service has since been suspended until police release the scene following the investigation.
Metrolinx officials say 172 passengers were on the train at the time of the collision and buses were brought in to transport the transit users.
GO Transit said most trains would be back in service Friday afternoon.
Peel police say the incident happened between 9th Line and Terragar Boulevard.
“It’s a terrible morning when we have an interaction like that,” said Harvey. “The train crew was shaken up by this.”
Metrolinx said significant delays are expected and passengers are being advised to use the Lakeshore West Line instead.
“It would be hard to imagine the train didn’t sustain some damage. That means it’s going to be even longer getting this train going,” said Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said it is deploying a team of investigators to probe the fatal crash.
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