Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1992, January 22 -  Crossing collision Jasper, CPR Brockville sub, one fatality

Ottawa Citizen 23 January 1992 TRAIN RAMS PICKUP Man killed at crossing A 39-year-old Ontario Hydro employee was killed Wednesday when a Via Rail train slammed into his truck at Jasper, 10 kilometres southeast of Smiths Falls. Provincial police said the Hydro pickup truck was east-bound on County Rd. 16. It drove across a level crossing, which had operational flashing lights and bells, when it was struck by the southbound train at 10:30 a.m. There was no one else in the truck. The victim's name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. No one on the three-coach train was hurt Ottawa Citizen 20 Fenruary 1992 Residents demand gates at rail crossing Fatal accident spurs petition A group of Jasper residents is demanding better protection at a local railway crossing after a fatal accident there last month. John Murray, an Ontario Hydro employee, was killed Jan. 22 when a VIA Rail train slammed into his truck. Murray had been travelling east on County Rd. 16. About 35 Jasper residents signed a petition calling for gates at the crossing, which is at the centre of town. Jasper is about 10 kilometres southeast of Smiths Falls. Connie Rathwell, one of the organizers, said she could have easily got more residents to sign the petition. But in an effort to speed up the bureaucratic process to get the gates approved, she only let the petition circulate for one day. "After the accident, everybody was stunned. We felt if there were gates there, this fellow might not have been killed. And we don't want to see it happen again." The single track crossing has bells and lights, which were working at the time of the accident. Acting Leeds Grenville engineer Bob Strachan said gates could cost as much as $87,000 to install and $2,000 a year to maintain. The county would pay 12.5 per cent of the installation cost and half of the maintenance fees. The rest would be paid by CP Rail and Transport Canada. The petition will be discussed at the next meeting of county council's roads committee in early March. The committee will probably initiate a study of the crossing and speak to CP Rail before submitting an application for gates to Transport Canada, Strachan said. But even if the county supports the project, the federal government could kill it. Transport Canada could refuse to contribute funds;. "There are always more projects than we have money for," said Colin Churcher, Transport Canada's director-general of railway safety. "Where this would come in the list of priorities, I just don't know." Strachan said if the government does decide the gates are needed, it could take a week to one year before they're installed.

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Updated 5 May 2024