Train accidents: potential for significant Injury

In early March of 2015, a train carrying crude oil crashed and caught fire in the Northern Ontario community of Gogama. Between thirty and forty railway cars accidentally went off the tracks and caught fire near the community. This was the second time in less than a month that a railway train, also carrying crude oil, derailed and caught fire near the community of Gogama.  It was also just two years since the tragedy in Lac-Mégantic, where a freight train, also carrying crude oil, rolled down a hill resulting in the crash and explosion of multiple tank cars. Forty people died in that tragedy, with numerous more injured, missing and presumed dead. There was also considerable damage to almost thirty buildings in the small town.

In response to the March incident in Gogama, the transportation ministers of the provinces of Quebec and Ontario sent a letter to the Canada’s Transport Minister, expressing their concern over the high number of train incidents. The increasing incidence of train accidents is concerning, as these collisions, even more so than road accidents, almost always cause very serious injuries as well as fatalities for many innocent victims.

The two common types of trains are freight trains and passenger trains. Freight trains, which are also referred to as goods trains, are essentially a series of freight cars used to transport goods and materials. Passenger trains, as the name suggests, are used for carrying passengers to and from their destination, and there are three main categories of passenger trains – inter-city, fast and regional. Freight trains have accounted for the most train accidents, by far, in Canada, but this should not be surprising as Canadian railways are primarily used to transport freight. However,  the Lac-Mégantic disaster is one of many train accidents that demonstrates that the public can also be injured and severely affected by freight train accidents.

According to a 2011 Transportation Safety Board of Canada report, there were 1, 023 train accidents across the country, with 118 involving trains carrying dangerous goods and 68 involving passenger trains. Of the 68 accidents involving passenger trains, there were 71 fatalities and 51 injuries.

The most common types of train accidents

• Derailment – Derailment essentially refers to accidents that involve a train running off the rails. When this occurs, the train may not necessarily run off the track. The cause of a derailment may be a collision with an object on the tracks or a mechanical failure, such as broken rails, tracks or train wheels.

• Train/Car Fire – Most fires typically occur as a result of derailments, collisions with other trains and/or some type of train malfunction. The fires can be very dangerous and deadly, particularly when occurring in a freight train carrying hazardous materials or flammable goods.

• Level-Crossing Accident – A level-crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road or path at the same level versus crossing over or under via a bridge or tunnel. Train accidents at a level-crossing can be devastating because of the risk of crashing into road users.

• SPAD Accidents – SPAD stands for signal passed at danger and generally occurs when a train passes a stop signal without having the right to do so. This is dangerous because much like a motorist ignoring road signals, it increases the chances of crashing into an unsuspecting oncoming train.

• Head-on/Rear Collisions – Like most road accidents, many train accidents are the result of a collision with another train. Sometimes it is a head-on collision when two oncoming trains crash directly into each other and other times it is a rear collision, when one train crashes into the rear of another train.

Like road accidents, train accidents are sometimes the result of inattention, engineer fatigue, driver/worker error and weather conditions.  However, a large percentage of train accidents have been caused by some type of malfunction and/or defect in the train, inadequate maintenance of the tracks or malfunctioning train lights or signals.

Most train accidents can be avoided with proper maintenance of tracks or train infrastructure and safe practices by rail employees.  In the case of the Lac-Mégantic disaster, for example, the Transportation Safety Board concluded that lax safety measures for the company that owned the train, poor training of employees and old style tanker cars that provided inadequate protection, were some of the preventable factors that contributed to this accident.  As a result of this terrible event and their findings of negligence, the Transportation Safety Board made recommendations to the Federal Transport Minister, asking that outdated and unsafe rail cars be eliminated from Canada’s rails and that the safety of routes transporting hazardous goods be reassessed.

Whatever the cause, train accidents are certainly devastating for the victims who suffer severe or catastrophic injuries from such events, as well as for their family members.   At Injury Lawyers of Ontario, our experienced attorneys have successfully represented many victims of serious accidents and know that recovery is often physically, emotionally and financially draining for the entire family of the injured person.   Call ILO today for legal advice and strong representation if you or a loved one were seriously injured in any type motor vehicle accident, including a train or bus accident.  Find out about your legal right to compensation for loss of income, medical/rehabilitation expenses and any other losses resulting from your injuries.