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Canada Train Crash

March 7, 2012 by · Comments Off on Canada Train Crash 

Canada Train Crash, The federal Transportation Safety Board says Canadians have reason to fear rail security given the troubling similarities between a recent fatal train accident in Ontario and a derailment two years ago in Quebec.

Board officials made the observation during a news conference Tuesday in Quebec City, while releasing a report into a crash in February 2010 that injured seven people in St-Charles-de-Bellechasse.

The report cited a variety of factors behind that crash, including: poor visibility because of snow; poor technology that leaves open the possibility of human error; and improper sharing of medical data that could reveal things like sleep disorders.

It said all those things contributed to the 2010 accident where the Via passenger train burst into a siding track at excessive speed.

Almost two years later to the day, there were related factors behind the Via derailment that killed three crew members in Burlington, Ont., on Feb. 26, 2012, board members said.

“The scenario is similar,” TSB official Ed Belkaloul told reporters.

“There’s obviously room for improvement. It’s clear: when it comes to high-speed trains and passenger trains, the measures are insufficient, as this accident illustrates.”

The TSB says the Canadian rail system relies too heavily on human activity and has been too slow to adopt automated systems, like in the United States.

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