Three Dead in Via Rail Derailment

Three Via Rail engineers were killed and 46 other people were injured when Via Train 92 derailed about 3:30 p.m., Sunday, February 26 near the Aldershot Station in Burlington about 60km west of Toronto. The passenger train was travelling eastbound from Niagara Falls to Toronto with 75 passengers and 4 crew members on board. (See CTV News, Toronto Star, Edmonton Journal and CBC News coverage.)

The train was switching from one track to another when it flew off the tracks and collided with a building, destroying the locomotive that the three deceased crew members were in.

Transportation Safety Board of Canada staff have been on site since shortly following the derailment and will be conducting a full investigation of the accident.

Via Rail, which separated from CN Rail in 1978, operates on about 12,500km of track, almost all of which is owned, operated and maintained by CN Rail. Canadian and American transportation safety agencies have criticized CN on many occasions for its poor safety record.

For more on derailments see this link.

~ by railroaded on February 27, 2012.