Bamboo
Well-Known Member
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
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