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Other Factual Information
On 06 June 2006, westward VIA Rail Canada Inc. (VIA) train 87 (train 87), en route from Toronto, Ontario, to Sarnia, Ontario, was proceeding at 30 mph (over a temporary slow order) near New Hamburg, Ontario, on the Goderich-Exeter Railway Company (GEXR) Guelph Subdivision (
Figure 1). At 1931 eastern daylight time,
1 GEXR train 518 (train 518), working on the main track at Mile 75, heard an automated radio broadcast report originating from the hot box detector (HBD) located at Mile 73.7. The automated report indicated that a train had just passed that location. Realizing that a train collision could be imminent, the crew of train 518, using the train radio, immediately requested the approaching train to stop. Upon hearing the radio broadcast from train 518, the crew of train 87 applied a full service brake application and the train came to a stop at approximately Mile 74.
Figure 1. Incident location on the Guelph Subdivision (Source: Railway Association of Canada,
Canadian Railway Atlas)
The crew of train 87 then called train 518 over the radio and asked for their cellular telephone number. After receiving the telephone number, train 87 contacted train 518 by cellular telephone. During this conversation, an agreement was made that train 87 would back up clear of the siding switch at Mile 73.85 (Alpine). Train 518 would then enter the siding to allow the passenger train to continue westward. After conducting these movements, both trains then completed their tours of duty. This incident was not reported to the appropriate personnel (at VIA and GEXR) at the time of the incident, nor upon completion of the crews' tours of duty.
Before departing Kitchener, Ontario, train 87 had received a clearance to proceed from Mile 64 (Kitchener) to the west siding switch at Stratford (approximately Mile 88.5). This clearance contained a restriction to protect against train 518 between Mile 72 and the west siding switch at Stratford. At 1924, approximately seven minutes before reaching Mile 72, the conductor
2 on train 87 used the assigned cellular telephone to contact train 518 to obtain permission and instructions through the restricted limits. However, the conductor inadvertently dialed the wrong telephone number, resulting in a call to GEXR train 433 (train 433) that was working in London Yard (Mile 119.9). At that time, train 433 was performing a switching operation. With the conductor on the track at the rear of the train, the locomotive engineer answered the call.
The conductor of train 87 immediately recognized the locomotive engineer's voice and thought that he was speaking to train 518. During the conversation, proper identification was not established and the misidentification was not detected. When train 87 requested permission to travel through the work limits, the crew of train 433 reasoned that train 87 would go through their work limits before they would return to foul the main track. While it was unusual that train 87 had called so early, train 433 did not foresee any problems with providing permission to the VIA train to travel through their work limits. Upon receiving permission, a clear understanding in writing of this permission given by train 433 to train 87 was not copied by all required crew members.
As a result of the conversation, the crew members of train 87 believed that they had obtained permission through the limits of the clearance held by train 518. It was not until receiving the urgent request to stop and then speaking with the crew of train 518 that the crew members of train 87 realized that they did not have permission to enter the limits.
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