CN cited for safety and training lapses in fatal accident with Amtrak train. “The report said the probable cause of the accident was a crossing warning time of less than 20 seconds. Contributing causes were that Canadian National returned the crossing warning system to service without completing the required testing of the system after making improvements to track signals, and Canadian National personnel’s failure to comply with federal regulations and CN rules, policies and procedures.”
That sounds like stunningly gross incompetence and negligence.
I am curious about something that the report does not clarify. From earlier news coverage, I understand that sometime in late afternoon, the signal maintainers suspended flagging, lifted the slow order at the crossing, and left the site.
Then they came back around 10:00 PM to double-check their work by observing the crossing signal performance with the passage of the Amtrak train. However, even though they were double-checking their work, they had no provision in place to protect the crossing in case there was a problem with their work such as signals failing to activate. Indeed, that is exactly what happened as the Amtrak train barreled through at 79mph with just a two-second warning.
What I find most intriguing about the aftermath of this accident is that CN assures us that they are doing everything possible to make crossings safe. Really? Did they just start now? The accident reports dryly state the cause, but it still leaves me wondering how supposedly qualified workers could do something so negligent and stupid, and have no explanation for their actions.
The signalmen who walked away from their job at 6:30 PM without testing the safety of their work clearly knew that such a test was necessary because they came back at 9:35 PM to make such a test. The only problem was that they tested it with human guinea pigs, and unfortunately it required the death of Katie Lunn to show these signalmen that their work was not safely executed.
To leave work dangerously unfinished at 6:30 PM, and to come back to finish the work and restore safety at 9:35 PM leaves me wondering what else was so important to do between 6:30 and 9:35. <
Next Step for CNR and its employees will be litigation.
That will be interesting…Even if it gets into a Courtroom.
It has already been litigated, resulting in a $6 million settlement to the family of Katie Lunn: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-03-13/news/chi-6-million-settlement-in-train-death-of-dance-teacher-20120313_1_jerry-lunn-death-of-dance-teacher-hip-hop-connxion
To leave work dangerously unfinished at 6:30 PM, and to come back to finish the work and restore safety at 9:35 PM leaves me wondering what else was so important to do between 6:30 and 9:35.
Maybe that was the next scheduled train. They should have flagged the highway.
ROAR
Well, the signalmen might have known that no trains would pass during the 3 hours they left the crossing unprotected, but I would not make that assumption that they were taking that safe course by knowing no trains would pass. I say this because when they came back after the 3 hours, they took the most murderously reckless course of action imaginable in testing their work.
Instead of checking their work with a shunt test, they tested it with a 79mph passenger tr
Speaking from the view of a retired aircraft mechanic (general aviation no airlines) don’t ever leave a task till the job is done or you reach a point where everything is safe.
I know some signal maintainers form both CSX and CN. They feel the same way.
Someone goofed on that one.
I began this thread nearly two years ago:
http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/p/174643/1916923.aspx
Back then, the crash had just happened a month earlier, and I wondered how long the investigation would take. It is interesting to review that thread in light of the recent conclusion of this case. The incredible scenario that I outlined in the first post from news accounts at that time did prove to be what happened.
But actually the facts that emerged since the accident go quite a ways beyond the initially understood scenario and raise a number to questions that have still not been answered.
[quote user=“Bucyrus”]
I began this thread nearly two years ago:
http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/p/174643/1916923.aspx
Back then, the crash had just happened a month earlier, and I wondered how long the investigation would take. It is interesting to review that thread in light of the recent conclusion of this case. The incredible scenario that I outlined in the first post from news accounts at that time did prove to be what happened.
But actually the facts that emerged since the accident go quite a ways beyond the initially understood scenario and raise a number to questions that have still not been answered.