The Ottawa bus–train crash was a

collision In physics, a collision is any event in which two or more bodies exert forces on each other in a relatively short time. Although the most common use of the word ''collision'' refers to incidents in which two or more objects collide with great for ...

that occurred between an

OC Transpo OC Transpo is the primary Transit district, public transport agency for the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operating bus rapid transit, light rail, conventional transit bus, bus routes, and door-to-door paratransit in the nation's capital regi ...

double-decker bus A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. Double-deckers are used primarily for commuter transport, but open-top models are used as sightseeing buses for tourists, and there are coaches too for long-distance travel. They app ...

and a

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

in the

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

suburb of

Barrhaven Barrhaven is a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located about southwest of the city's downtown core. Prior to amalgamation with Ottawa in 2001, Barrhaven was part of the City of Nepean. Its population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 10 ...

on September 18, 2013, that killed six people.

Details

The collision occurred at 8:48 a.m. at a rail crossing near Fallowfield Road and

Woodroffe Avenue Woodroffe Avenue ( Ottawa Road #15) is a major north-south arterial road in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada's west end. It runs south from the Kichi Zibi Mikan through Baseline Road and Barrhaven to just short of Prince of Wales Drive near Manotick. T ...

on the Transitway, the city's dedicated road for buses. The train, Via Rail #51 (pulled by

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

P42 Genesis locomotive #915), departed

at 8:32 a.m., bound for Toronto. The bus, OC Transpo Route 76 (an

Alexander Dennis Enviro500 The Alexander Dennis Enviro500 (previously known as the TransBus Enviro500) is a three-axle double-decker bus built by Alexander Dennis (formerly by TransBus International) in the United Kingdom. It was unveiled in 2002 and is one of the Envir ...

double-decker #8017), had just departed from Fallowfield Transitway Station with 83 people aboard. The crossing's gates, lights, and bells engaged 47 seconds before the crash, and its gates were fully horizontal across the road 25 seconds before the crash. The train rang its bell but did not sound its whistle, due to a municipal whistle ban in effect between 8:00 p.m. and noon. The train was travelling at at the time of the collisionbelow its speed limit of and its emergency brakes were applied 2 seconds prior to the collision. The bus was travelling at above its speed limit of before its brakes were applied, which occurred 3 seconds before the crash; the full force of the brakes was not initially applied. The collision sheared off the front end of the bus and derailed the train. Five occupants of the bus were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident (including the bus driver) and one later died in hospital, while thirty-five occupants were injured, five seriously. None of the train's passengers or crew were injured. Canadian Prime Minister

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

and Ontario Premier

Kathleen Wynne Kathleen O'Day Wynne ( ; born May 21, 1953) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 25th premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018. She was Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), member of provinci ...

were among those who offered condolences to the victims of the crash and their families. The bus and the train involved in the crash were both removed from the scene on September 19, 2013. Via Rail train service resumed through the area in the morning of September 20, 2013. A community memorial was held for all of the victims of the crash at Cedarview Alliance Church on September 22, 2013, where funerals for two of the victims were also held later in the week. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson was among those who attended the community memorial.

Investigation

The crash was investigated by the

Transportation Safety Board of Canada The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB, ), officially the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board () is the agency of the Government of Canada responsible for advancing transportation safety in Canada. It is acc ...

(TSB). The TSB was not able to identify any issue with the track's condition or the operation of the train. The bus driver did not have any drugs or alcohol in his system and did not have any medical conditions that would have led to the crash. On September 28, 2013, TSB investigators and Ottawa Police investigators returned to the site of the incident in order to reenact the crash and collect more information on what might have led to the collision.

Interim measures

On October 16, 2013, based on early observations made by the TSB, Ottawa's transit commission, in the body's first meeting since the crash, outlined four new safety improvements for the level crossing that was the site of the crash. These measures were clearing trees and brush from the area of the crash site to improve visibility, reducing the speed along the Transitway approaching the level crossing from , installing bigger signs, and installing a new early warning light to caution buses when a train is coming. The city stated that these measures would only be extended to the crossing where the crash occurred and that these observations made by the TSB should not be confused with causes of the crash. In late fall of 2013, the

City of Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of the Ottawa–Gatinea ...

hired the consultant firm MMM Group to study whether or not the OC Transpo buses should be required to stop at all rail crossings as is done in many other regions in Canada. The results of the MMM group study were released on April 9, 2014, and suggested that requiring buses to stop at railway crossings actually increases collisions between buses and trains by 17 percent, prompting OC Transpo not to change their policy on the matter. On January 9, 2014, the City of Ottawa was ordered by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), as part of its workplace safety investigation of the crash, to assess the safety of each railway crossing in the city where OC Transpo buses and trains have the potential of coming into contact. On February 25, 2014, the TSB sent two letters to the City of Ottawa. The first addressed four incidents that happened in the months following the bus and train collision where buses went through the crossing involved after its warning lights started flashing but before its gates closed. This first letter recommended that the city take additional measures to ensure that buses are able to safely stop at level crossings when the warning lights are activated. The second letter addressed another incident that happened on February 14, 2014, at the same level crossing where one gate stayed down and the warning lights remained on after the train had passed. This second letter recommends that OC Transpo and Via Rail create standard operating procedures for dealing with malfunctioning automated level crossings. Further malfunctions of Via Rail crossings near the site of the crash led then Foreign Affair Minister and local MP John Baird to call for the resignation of Via Rail President Steve Del Bosco, who was later replaced as president by Yves Desjardins-Siciliano. On September 24, 2014, the TSB gave a progress update on the investigation. The update mentioned two potential factors in the crash: the speed of the bus, which exceeded the speed limit and affected its stopping distance, and a video screen located above the driver's work station used to monitor passengers on the upper level of the bus. The update stated that a passenger who was standing at the time of the crash or a similar situation may have caused a distraction. The update recommended that the video screen should go blank when the bus is moving and that more should be done to monitor bus speed, particularly around railroad crossings. In July 2015, a draft of the TSB's report was submitted to the City of Ottawa and Via Rail.

Final report

On December 2, 2015, the report of the TSB found that the driver of the bus was most likely distracted by the video screens that he was required to monitor as part of his job. The report also made recommendations to

Transport Canada Transport Canada () is the Ministry (government department), department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, Policy, policies and Public services, services of road, rail, marine and air Transport in Canada, tra ...

to develop guidelines for the use of in-vehicle video screens to reduce distraction, to develop

crashworthiness Crashworthiness is the ability of a structure to protect its occupants during an impact. This is commonly tested when investigating the safety of aircraft and vehicles. Different criteria are used to figure out how safe a structure is in a crash, ...

standards for passenger buses, to equip passenger buses with crashworthy event data recorders, and to develop specific guidance for

grade separation In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights ( grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tr ...

. The last recommendation of the report was for the

to review the need for grade separation at the level crossings at Woodroffe Avenue, Transitway and Fallowfield Road.

Aftermath

On July 11, 2014, the City of Ottawa decided to retire OC Transpo route 76, replacing it with route 72 in the fall schedule. On the first anniversary of the incident, city facility flags were lowered to

half-mast Half-mast or half-staff (American English) refers to a flag flying below the summit of a ship mast, a pole on land, or a pole on a building. In many countries this is seen as a symbol of respect, mourning, distress, or, in some cases, a sal ...

. In October 2015, a memorial park was opened beside the Fallowfield Park and Ride which features six sections honouring each of the six victims. On August 18, 2017, a survivor of the crash committed suicide. His family believes that his mental illness had been triggered by the events of the crash. Several lawsuits were filed against the City of Ottawa and the estate of the bus driver by families of those who died in the crash as well as survivors. By September 19, 2017, of the 39 lawsuits filed against the city, collectively claiming $26 million, 31 had been settled with actual settlement payments totalling $8 million. By January 18, 2019, 35 of the 39 lawsuits had been settled, with the total payout rising to $9.7 million. On February 26, 2016, the City of Ottawa stated that it will study whether underpasses or overpasses are required at five of the city's railway crossings, including the crossing involved in the crash.

References

External links

Railway Investigation Report R13T0192
- TSB's final report on the incident
Railway Investigation Report R13T0192
- TSB's final report on the incident in PDF form
Collision between OC Transpo bus and VIA Rail passenger train investigation summary
- An executive summary of TSB's final report on the incident
Collision between OC Transpo bus and VIA passenger train: Executive summary
- An executive summary of TSB's final report on the incident in PDF form
TSB animation summary of the accidentRailway Investigation R13T0192 - Collision between OC Transpo bus and VIA passenger train near Fallowfield Station, Ottawa
- TSB's active investigation page on the incident
Rail Safety Advisory Letter 01/14 - OC Transpo buses traversing crossings with activated AWD protection
- TSB's first February 25, 2014, letter to the City of Ottawa
Rail Safety Advisory Letter 617-02/14 - Reported malfunction of transitway automatic crossing protection
- TSB's second February 25, 2014, letter to the City of Ottawa
Progress update on investigation into fatal 2013 OC Transpo – VIA Rail collision on Ottawa’s Transitway
- TSB's September 24, 2014, progress update on the investigation {{DEFAULTSORT:2013 Ottawa bus-train crash Ottawa bus-train crash Bus incidents in Canada Level crossing incidents in Canada Railway accidents and incidents in Ontario Accidental deaths in Ontario Ottawa bus-train crashs Railway accidents in 2013 Accidents and incidents involving Via Rail OC Transpo Ottawa bus-train crash Disasters in Ottawa Rail transport in Ottawa Bus transport in Ottawa 2013 in Ottawa