‘Catastrophic collision’ narrowly averted between GO trains: TSB investigation - BERITAJA

A caller study is renewing calls for stronger obstruction information measures aft much than 400 GO Transit passengers narrowly avoided a catastrophic train collision successful Burlington, Ont., successful 2024.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s investigation recovered that a GO Transit commuter train passed a extremity awesome aft departing Aldershot position connected March 14, 2024, and entered a way occupied by different GO train travelling successful the other direction.

Both train crews were capable to extremity their trains, avoiding a collision by about 549 feet.

“In this occurrence, a catastrophic collision involving 400 passengers was narrowly averted,” Transportation Safety Board chair Yoan Marier said successful a release.

The investigation recovered the unit departing Aldershot position expected the opposing train to person already passed and believed the awesome would beryllium permissive.

During departure preparations, the conductor was focused connected a tablet while the locomotive technologist was dealing pinch instrumentality issues wrong the cab, the study said.

As a result, neither unit personnel observed the extremity signal.

The occurrence happened about 1.2 miles from the tract of the fatal 2012 VIA Rail derailment successful Burlington that killed 3 unit members and injured a twelve passengers.

Missed awesome indications were besides a facet successful that accident, according to TSB.

Since 2023, the TSB has investigated 8 abstracted obstruction collisions aliases near-collisions involving crews failing to travel awesome indications.

“For much than 25 years, we person been calling connected manufacture and regulators to expedite the implementation of beingness fail-safe train power systems and put beardown interim measures successful spot while these systems are being developed and installed,” the committee said successful the release.

Physical fail-safe systems, specified arsenic affirmative train power (PTC), automatically slow aliases extremity a train erstwhile crews do not respond to signals.

PTC has been afloat implemented connected high-hazard obstruction routes successful the United States since 2020, including routes operated by Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railway.

Its about caller recommendation, issued successful 2022, called connected Transport Canada to accelerate the rollout of beingness train power protections connected high-speed corridors and cardinal obstruction routes.

While Transport Canada has pointed to progress, including projected regulations expected successful 2026 aliases 2027, the TSB said meaningful consequence simplification is improbable earlier 2030 and continues to complaint the national consequence arsenic “unsatisfactory.”

“Until further backup information defences are successful place, the consequence of accidents resulting from crews not pursuing awesome indications will continue,” the merchandise said.