One year ago today, we came dangerously close to witnessing the most catastrophic accident in GO Transit history—an incident that has never really been publically acknowledged by Metrolinx. Instead, it was swiftly swept under the rug, with passengers being told their trains were simply delayed due to a ‘
signal issue’ when in reality,
two GO trains nearly collided head-on.
The Transport Safety Board of Canada is currently conducting an investigation on this incident, here is their brief on the incident;
The occurrenceOn 14 March 2024 at 1702 Eastern Daylight Time, eastbound GO Transit commuter train 1028 (GO 1028), was departing the station track at the GO Aldershot Station in Burlington, Ontario, when it passed by signal 344 displaying a Stop indication. The train then ran through a power...
www.tsb.gc.ca
"On 14 March 2024, GO Transit commuter train 1028 (GO 1028), was departing Aldershot station in Burlington, Ontario, heading east when it passed a stop signal. Consequently, it ran through the crossover switch and entered the main track at Mile 34.4 of the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) Oakville Subdivision.
At the same time, from the opposite direction, another GO Transit commuter train (GO 1775) was approaching the Aldershot station on the main track. The crew of GO 1775 saw headlights ahead and, when they realized that GO 1028 was on their track, they made an emergency application of the air brakes, stopping their train within six car lengths (approximately 450 feet) of GO 1028.
Both trains had passengers on board. There was no derailment, and no injuries were reported. The TSB is investigating."
What the TSB brief doesn't say is that the two trains had a combined
232 people on board! 227 passengers along with 5 crew members.
Here is the Alstom brief on the incident, which emphasizes how dangerous the situation was:
"During the late afternoon on Thursday, March 14th, a GO train crew advised that they went past the stop signal 344 at Waterdown East and ran through the switch at mile 34.34 Oakville Subdivision traveling approximately 13-14 mph
with 110 passengers onboard. ENGR stated that he heard a snap while running through dual control switch, observed oncoming head lights and came to a controlled stop approximately 11 coaches past the stop signal. CNDR made an emergency broadcast and went flagging. The ENGR proceeded to make an emergency broadcast to the RTC.
Simultaneously, a westbound GO train crew observed headlights on approach while traveling at approximately 55 mph
with 117 passengers onboard and contacted the opposing movement to dim their headlights. Once the westbound trip realized that the opposing movement was on their track, they placed the train into emergency east of Waterdown East and stopped approximately
three coach lengths from the opposing movement.
The event had high risk potential for catastrophic consequences."
Truth be told, we were incredibly lucky that there was no collision. Normally, a westbound train approaching Aldershot would be traveling at a higher rate of speed, approximately 65 mph. However, this particular train had a trainee operating it, and he was running at a slower speed. At 65 mph, their train would not have been able to stop in time.
This incident highlights serious deficiencies within the GO train network and exposes a troubling lack of transparency within MX. PTC would address many of these issues, yet very little progress has been made in implementing it. Worse still, rather than openly acknowledging the severity of the incident, it was downplayed and essentially concealed from the public. Furthermore, one of the employees on the train that passed the stop signal without authority had a known medical condition that may have interfered with his ability to operate—yet he was still allowed to continue in such a critical role. This raises serious concerns about their hiring practices and ability to retain qualified staff. The fact that he was allowed to remain on duty even after the issue became apparent—prior to this incident—can almost certainly be attributed to chronic understaffing and a growing exodus of experienced personnel driven by low morale, high stress levels, and overall dissatisfaction with the company and agency.
Without immediate action to modernize safety systems, enforce stricter operational standards, and commit to greater transparency, we may not be as fortunate next time.
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