No plans to add warning gates at Orangeville Brampton Railway crossing where fatal train crash occurred
Company says crossing meets required regulations
News Apr 19, 2016 by
Louie Rosella Brampton Guardian
Carol Thompson, 56, was killed and her father Egbert Thompson was seriously injured after the car they were in collided with a train at a crossing on Sandalwood Parkway West. The rail crossing is controlled by railway crossing lights, but there are no gates.
Carol Thompson, 56, was killed and her father Egbert Thompson was seriously injured after the car they were in collided with a train at a crossing on Sandalwood Parkway West. The rail crossing is controlled by railway crossing lights, but there are no gates.
Carol Thompson, 56, was killed and her father Egbert Thompson was seriously injured after the car they were in collided with a train at a crossing on Sandalwood Parkway West. The rail crossing is controlled by railway crossing lights, but there are no gates.
Despite calls from family members of a Brampton woman killed by a train earlier this month, the company that operates the railway crossing said there are no immediate plans to add automatic warning gates.
Federal Ministry of Transportation spokesperson Clay Cervoni told The Guardian the Orangeville Brampton Railway falls under provincial jurisdiction and the decision on whether to add warning gates as a safety precaution falls on the road authority and the railway owner.
But Julie Pomehichuk, marketing and communications manager with Cando Rail Services, the firm that operates the Orangeville Brampton Railway which the fatal crash occurred on back on April 8 that killed Carol Thompson, 56, and badly injured her elderly father, said the crossing on Sandalwood Parkway West, near Van Kirk Drive, is in compliance with Transport Canada’s Grade Crossings Regulations.
“This was a tragic incident and our thoughts are with the family. Transport Canada’s Grade Crossings Regulations contain standards for the type of protection required at a crossing related to vehicle traffic and train traffic numbers. The inclusion of gates or absence of gates in their design standards should be addressed with Transport Canada. The crossing protection at this location was within the standards and was working as intended,” she said, later adding “crossing protection is laid out by the Transport Canada standards, this crossing was in compliance and Cando will continue to comply with the standards in the future if they change.”
Provincial Ministry of Transportation spokesperson Bob Nichols said Queen’s Park continues to work with Transport Canada, municipalities and rail operators to improve safety at railway crossings across the province and that new federal Grade Crossing Regulations came into force in November 2014.
“Rail operators and the ministry are currently collecting data and sharing information, in accordance with the Grade Crossing Regulations,” he said. “After reviewing this information an improvement program will be developed, to ensure compliance by November 2021.”
[...]
Thompson’s car was pushed between 50 and 100 metres from the crossing south along the tracks. The elder Thompson had to be cut free from the wreckage by Brampton firefighters and was airlifted to hospital.
The train was a short freight train consisting of an engine and two cars. It continued approximately 100 metres past the wreckage before coming to a stop.
[...]
The Orangeville Brampton Railway (OBRY) line is 55 kilometres long and runs between Orangeville and Streetsville. Two days a week – Tuesday and Friday – it services two industries in the Van Kirk industrial area of Brampton, and other industries in Orangeville. On weekends, a seasonal public excursion train, the Credit Valley Explorer, runs between Orangeville and Snelgrove.
The tracks are decades old, and the speed limit along the line is reportedly 10 mph (16 km/h), according to local train enthusiasts. [...]
