Via rail train derails near Toronto with fatalities...

[pylon]

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Th...043/story.html

Another argument against rail transportation?

Time to institute a helmet policy on trains?

Time to ban trains?



Discuss.

[RinkRat]

Cause it's not like people driving their own vehicles don't kill hundreds of people a year......nope.....

[flames_1987]

So sad. ViaRail came out with a statement about how small of company they are and how everyone knows everyone by name there. Tragic accident

[nik-]

Time to ban trains?! That part was a joke right?

[Mtt48]

Thats terrible. I've taken the train so many times out east. It's so handy out there and really a great way to travel.

[OffsideSpecialist]

The train that derailed was the one that was supposed to take me from Cobourg to Ottawa this evening. We're running a couple hours late as they had to find a replacement, but not biggie. Only thing is that all night I'm going to be going over de-railment scenarios in my head and what I will do if one happens.

In the grand scheme of things, I think passenger rail transport is very safe. It is very rare that I hear of such a passenger rail tragedy in Canada. I certainly hear of a lot more accidents related to buses, and of course people driving their own personal vehicles from place to place.

[Redliner]

This is truly a tragedy. As someone who works for a major rail carrier, my heart goes out to everyone involved.

To suggest that passenger rail is dangerous and should be discontinued is asinine. (my apologies if the statement was sarcastic, but sadly there will be those knee-jerkers out there who would honestly believe it was the right solution) Passenger rail is the most energy-efficient mode of transportation by a wide margin, (30-40%) and is far safer than either automobile or bus transport. The safety record of passenger rail is comparable to that of commercial airlines; both are in the range of 0.02-0.03 deaths per million passenger miles.

Initial speculation is that this train derailed on a switch as it was changing tracks. Hopefully the TSB investigation will determine the cause conclusively so it can be prevented from happening again in the future.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by nik-

Time to ban trains?! That part was a joke right?

I'm pretty sure everything between the URL and the word 'Discuss' was assumed green text. Pylon's not an idiot.

[Burninator]

So as someone who takes the c-train everyday, but knows nothing about trains, how did this train derail? The photos look like it is on a straight stretch of track.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

I'm pretty sure everything between the URL and the word 'Discuss' was assumed green text. Pylon's not an idiot.

Green text?

[Northendzone]

I think that trains should be abandoned for hovercraft.

[TSXCman]

I have taken the exact route that derailed. I would chalk it up to one of the things that rarely happens, and when it does it still has very low fatalities. Last time I checked it was 3 via employees dead and 46 passengers injured, only a handful were very injured.