$10M class-action lawsuit launched in Via train derailment

A $10 million class-action lawsuit for people affected by the Via Rail train derailment in Burlington was launched in court on Tuesday.

The Charney Practice Group of Toronto and Sutts Strosberg LLP of Windsor, Ont., launched the suit on behalf of a Niagara woman. 

“She was badly shaken up,” said Ted Charney, Senior Partner Falconer Charney LLP  “And a lot of people tumbled on top of her.  It’s obviously a very traumatizing event.  And she’s just staying at home trying to recover from it.”

Twenty other passengers have since signed on.  If you were on the train, you can register to be part of the class action here.

Sutts Strosberg successfully handled a suit in the 1999 Via derailment in Thamesville, in which two crew members died and 77 people were injured.

Three engineers died and 46 others were injured in the accident that occurred on Sunday afternoon.

The 75 passengers on Via Train 92 are encouraged to contact the firms because they “may be entitled to compensation for physical and emotional injuries, loss of income, medical expenses, and/or out of pocket expenses.”

Meanwhile, crews have cleared the tracks in Burlington where the Toronto-bound VIA train derailed.

Rail cars were put back on their wheels and hauled away from the crash site near King and Plains roads for further examination.

The cause of the crash hasn’t been determined. Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) recovered the orange data recorder on Monday, which was damaged in the derailment.

They say the accident occurred when the train was switching tracks, the equivalent of changing lanes, but that routine maneuver may not be the cause of the accident.

The information on the event recorder will be able to tell them exactly what happened, including what the engineers were doing, the passenger train’s speed, the brake pressure and whether the bell whistle was applied, lead TSB investigator Tom Griffith said Monday.

“The only thing it does not tell us is the voice,” he said. “There is no voice recording on the locomotive.”

The derailment happened around 3:30 p.m. near Highway 403 and the QEW, where all six cars of VIA Train 92 jumped the tracks. The engineers were in the locomotive cab, which turned on its side and struck a building, killing all three men.

The men were identified Monday as veterans Peter Snarr, 52, and Ken Simmonds, 56, both of Toronto, and Patrick Robinson, 40, of Cornwall, Ont., who was being trained at the time.

The accident happened about 100 metres away from the site of another derailment four years ago when a freight train went off the rails. A faulty wheel was blamed in that incident.

Three people were airlifted to hospital with serious injuries, and the other injured people were taken to local hospitals.

Halton regional police say about a dozen people listed on the passenger manifest, which had 75 people, left on their own accord Sunday afternoon before authorities arrived, but they have since located and spoken to them.

Sunday’s derailment is still affecting GO Transit commuters, who will need to alter their travel plans. Eastbound trains that originate in Hamilton will depart the Hamilton GO Centre, and will serve the Aldershot GO Station. GO buses will service riders from Aldershot to Burlington.