TORONTO – The Via locomotive that was involved in the deadly Wednesday morning crash with an OC Transpo bus in Ottawa was likely the same involved in a crash that killed a 22-year-old man in 2011.
Canadian Railway Observations as well as other train groups noted that following the crash, locomotive 915 was repaired and repainted in the new Via green.
There are 21 P42DC locomotives in the Via feet, built between October and December 2001.
The 2011 crash occurred on July 29, 2011 as Via Train 71 was headed from Toronto to Windsor.
According to the Transportation Safety Board’s (TSB) accident report, the train accelerated to 129 km/h, sounded its horn and then approached the crossing. The crew witnessed a pick-up truck travelling north toward the crossing, but noted that it wasn’t slowing down. The engineer continued to sound the whistle and applied the brakes, but was unable to stop. Four coaches and the locomotive derailed.
Locomotive 915 at the Ottawa train accident
Twenty-two year-old John Jobson was airlifted to hospital, but later succumbed to his injuries. Six passengers suffered minor injuries.
The crossing didn’t have any barriers, only a stop sign.
In 2013, John’s mother Sharon was served a $500,000 suit by CN Rail.
CN alleges that Jobson was responsible for the accident on their line, as he failed to stop at the crossing. The TSB’s report also found that Jobson, a local resident, had been involved in another incident at a Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) crossing two kilometres north of the Pratt crossing.
In that incident, the Jobson had driven his vehicle into a ditch to avoid a collision with a train.
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