OC Transpo bus collides with Via Train (Ottawa, ON)

[Bamboo]

Some of you may or may not have heard about this already. Yesterday morning, just before 9AM, OC Transpo route 76 collided with a Via train by Fallowfield station. No one on the train was hurt but 6 people from the bus, including the driver were killed. Dozens more are injured. This is only a few minutes from where I live. I take these buses everyday. I woke up this morning to dozens of phone calls and messages asking if I was alright and if I was on that bus. It's all very surreal right now, I don't know why but this has been bothering me all day. It's not that I'm scared of getting on the bus. I had to go to work later in the evening, so I had to get on anyway and I didn't give it a second thought. I don't really know -surreal is the best way I can describe it.

The place where the accident occurred is where pretty much every bus route going in and out of Barrhaven has to go through, so there were massive detours set up. The buses still pull up to the Fallowfield Station to pick up passengers but, of course the regular route is blocked. So the buses turn around and go completely around to get back to the main road for the detour. When I was going to work, I saw both the train and the bus. The whole station was like a military operation. There was a massive media 'camp' with gigantic antennaes and satellite dishes by the main building. Further down, by the wreckages is where the police, pararmedics and firefighters were set up. I have never seen that many emergency services vehicles in my life. There was also a fairly large Transport Safety Board presence in the parking lot. There was the start of a makeshift memorial by the tracks. In the evening there was a candlelight vigil. Further along on my way to work, I saw the TSB had pulled over another double decker bus on the side of the highway.

Coming home, I saw the whole area was lit up with spotlights and there were flashing lights everywhere still. After we had pulled into the station and were turning around, there was a bulldozer heading towards the crash site.

It's just a weird feeling. I knew a couple of the survivors who were on the bus, I went to school with them. Since my hours are fairly regular, I almost always have the same bus drivers. I don't know their names but I know their faces but it was worrisome to get on at the normal time and it's not the same person. I kept waiting for the identity of the driver to come out, to see if it had been any of the ones I know. When his name and photo were released, it turns out I didn't know him after all but that doesn't make it any less sad.

I think the main thing that is really bothering me is that everyone is so quick to blame the driver. People are saying everything from he was committing suicide to he was trying to 'race' the train to he was just not paying attention. There is no evidence to any of these things and until there is, he should be considered just as much a victim as anyone else. Maybe he had a heart attack or stroke. Maybe the brakes failed. Maybe we should show some respect and stop jumping to conclusions.

Anyway, here's a link that's being kept updated fairly well (and the info seems to be quite reliable too, which is nice) I know there's a bunch of us from Ottawa, and others have family and friends here. I hope you and yours are alright!

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/crash/index.html

 

[jorats]

I saw this yesterday morning when Kevin posted it on Facebook. I called my son who lives in Ottawa to make sure he was ok. It's quite a tragedy and even worse for me anyway since I know so many people in Ottawa. Not only is my son and his gf there, but many Rat Shack members and my aunts and cousins too. I'm reminded how far Ottawa is and how helpless we would be if something like that would happen. I hate having my son so far way, yes a 5.5 hour drive is far for me. I wish I could go and give him a big hug. The "I love You's" are simply not enough.

 

[temblabamomo]

It is scary how something so routine and normal like your morning commute can suddenly be turned into tragedy. My heart goes out to all affected by this. I'm glad you are okay.

 

[KMG365]

It is scary how something so routine and normal like your morning commute can suddenly be turned into tragedy.

It's extremely scary. My sister's ex-mother-in-law has a friend who was on the bus. He survived and helped to pull out a man who had been pinned under the front doors of the bus. I hope that individual survived too, but I haven't heard anything about him.

 

[Bamboo]

It is scary how something so routine and normal like your morning commute can suddenly be turned into tragedy.

It's extremely scary. My sister's ex-mother-in-law has a friend who was on the bus. He survived and helped to pull out a man who had been pinned under the front doors of the bus. I hope that individual survived too, but I haven't heard anything about him.

It's almost scarier how such minor seating choices were the difference between life and death. I went to school with the girl who was on the bus with her 1 year old baby. When they interviewed her, she was uninjured but (of course) extremely upset because she saw the person just across from her die. Another woman who was also relatively unharmed (I believe she said all she had were torn ligaments and some cuts and scratches) gave a similar account of how the person only 2 seats over from her was also killed.

I believe all the victim's have been identified and their families are beginning to make statements. Unfortunately, the TSB is now saying that it may be months before we know the exact cause of the accident. Locating both of the blackboxes is the top priority at this point. Unfortunately, the bus's box is located at the front. They're supposed to be indestructible but there is concern that it may be damaged. If it is, we may never know what exactly happened. The boxes show every single thing the bus does: every time is accelerates, what speed it was going, if brakes were applied, even if they didn't work, etc. This would be crucial information since there is a lot of confusion among the survivors, with some saying there was an acceleration at the last second, others saying the brakes were applied at the last second and others saying the speed was constant. The TSB seem to be very focused on the tires today so they're likely hoping to determine whether or not there was any brake activity that way.

There are still rumours that it may have been suicide on the driver's part but this is extremely unlikely. He would have had to have known that the train would be there at the exact moment that his bus would be approaching the tracks.

Fortunately, for the most part people have been very good. There has been a huge outpouring from the community and for every 1 person being judgemental and crass, there are at least 50 offering support and condolences. Ottawa is a relatively small city so almost everybody knows somebody who was affected in some way.

 

[Cinderwolf]

Pretty scarey! This si the bus AND the train my Cousin takes to go home from school on weekends and back to school. Luckily he wasnt on the train or bus this time.

 

[raindrop]

Our son lives in Ottawa as well and travels by bus all the time. We texted him right away and as well contacted my brother-in-law who is a OCTranspo driver. I will be seeing him this weekend and am anxious to see what he has to say about the driver. I agree that too much is assumed with the deceased driver's situation. Too many thing COULD have happend but it would be nice to now hear what actually did happen.

 

[ChrisK]

I do agree .. Ottawa is a small town when it comes to things like this. I think we all feel it because most of us have taken or do take the bus to work at some point. It could have been any one of us.

I am also interested to know what the black box finally tells us. Surely this is not the time for judgement, but rather to stand together to support each other.

 

[Sharlees rattakisses]

I spent my teenage years and early 20's living and working in Barrhaven.
It was quite a shock to see the accident was at a place I travelled thousands of times. :shock:
My H.S. was just down the road.
My heart breaks for all the families and friends of the people who died.

 

[Aida]

As always, my heart goes out to all the victims- including the driver- and their families.