{"id":26303,"date":"2014-09-18T20:24:33","date_gmt":"2014-09-18T12:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=26303"},"modified":"2014-09-18T20:24:33","modified_gmt":"2014-09-18T12:24:33","slug":"buses-to-halt-operations-in-memory-of-fatal-train-bus-crash-one-year-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/09\/18\/buses-to-halt-operations-in-memory-of-fatal-train-bus-crash-one-year-ago\/","title":{"rendered":"Buses to halt operations in memory of fatal train bus crash one year ago"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The front of the bus was destroyed while firefighters and police search the scene of a horrific crash between an OC Transpo double decker bus and a VIA Rail train near the Fallowfield Station in Barrhaven, a suburb on Ottawa\u2019s west end. Photo courtesy of Wayne Cuddington<\/a> \/ Ottawa Citizen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OTTAWA\u2014City buses in the nation\u2019s capital halted Thursday morning in sombre tribute to the six people killed when an OC Transpo bus collided with a Via Rail passenger train one year ago.<\/p>\n

Bus drivers who could safely do so pulled over and turned off their engines for a moment of silence at 8:47 a.m. EDT\u2014the exact time that Transpo bus 8017 slammed into the Via locomotive last Sept. 18.<\/p>\n

Flags on city buildings were lowered to half-mast for the day in remembrance.<\/p>\n

Transit, city and union officials say the tragedy took a toll on the entire city.<\/p>\n

The bus route number, 76, has since been officially retired. But Craig Watson, president of Amalgamated Transit Union local 279, says the catastrophe is still fresh in the minds of city bus drivers, as it is for the surviving passengers and the friends and loved ones of those who died.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think a single driver goes by there without remembering what happened and the tragedy of six people\u2019s lives cut short,\u201d said Watson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole city, really, took a deep reflection on everything because so many young people were lost in this,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it caused everybody to sort of stop and think that little bit more about what\u2019s important in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Transportation Safety Board says its investigation into the crash is in the initial report-writing phase.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not known when a final report will be issued, although the agency said it will provide an update next week.<\/p>\n

Driver Dave Woodard, was killed when the train sheared off much of the front of the double-decker bus after it went through a rail crossing gate.<\/p>\n

Passengers Connor Boyd, Kyle Nash, Michael Bleakney, Karen Krzyzewski and Rob More were also killed.<\/p>\n

Boyd and Nash were students at Carleton University and Krzyzewski was a Carleton graduate. The school also held a memorial.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur thoughts go to their families and friends at this time, as well as to all others who lost their lives or were injured in the accident,\u201d university president and vice-chancellor Roseann O\u2019Reilly Runte said in a statement Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thank everyone who supported members of our community over the past year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the tragedy, the city has removed brush and anything else that might have obstructed the view at the west-end crossing where the accident happened, said John Manconi, OC Transpo\u2019s general manager.<\/p>\n

Within a month of the crash, the speed limit on the approach road in both directions was reduced and new warning signs have been erected.<\/p>\n

\u201cOC Transpo also conducted a review of its operating procedures relating to railway crossings,\u201d Manconi said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Via Rail has personnel at the crossing every day, monitoring traffic and using signs to slow approaching vehicles and guide trains into and out of the nearby station.<\/p>\n

A team of peer supporters was expected to be at city bus garages to help grieving colleagues as they recall the events of last year.<\/p>\n

Local 279 vice-president Sharon Bow has been in direct contact with Woodard\u2019s widow and teenaged daughter since the tragedy and in particular in the days leading up to the anniversary, said Watson.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to make sure that the family is OK with what we\u2019re doing just to make sure that it wouldn\u2019t upset them in any way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The fatal collision focused attention on the more than 40,000 provincially and federally regulated public and private level railway crossings throughout the country.<\/p>\n

After the accident, the Ottawa area was plagued for months by signal and gate malfunctions at a number of crossings, including the fatal site.<\/p>\n

However, investigators have said there were no malfunctions there on the day of the crash. They say the crossing gate was fully horizontal and warning lights flashed for 25 seconds before the collision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OTTAWA\u2014City buses in the nation\u2019s capital halted Thursday morning in sombre tribute to the six people killed when an OC …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":26304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,1145],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-headline","mauthors-terry-pedwell","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}