'Deactivated' railroad crossing sparks anger in Ottawa

CTV Ottawa: What’s with VIA crossings in Ottawa? Driver snaps photo of VIA train rolling through busy street. No lights flashing, barriers raised, CTV’s Claudia Cautilo reports.

A photo of a Via Rail train passing through a level crossing without its barriers lowered in Ottawa has sparked anger on social media, but the crown corporation says at no time were drivers or pedestrians at risk.

The photograph, snapped on Wednesday afternoon by Chuck Bottomley, shows the train passing through a level crossing on Greenbank Road, in the south end of the city.

In the photo, traffic appears to have come to a full stop while the protective arms are raised and the lights are not flashing. The image was originally sent to local radio host Rob Snow. It later got the attention of many Ottawa-area residents, including Mayor Jim Watson.

"Very disturbing and unacceptable," Watson said in a tweet which also mentioned Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Democratic Reform Minister Pierre Poilievre Wednesday. According to Watson, they "have indicated they told VIA to fix (the crossing) by Friday."

In response to the photograph, VIA Rail spokesperson Jacques Gagnon said both the barriers and the lights were "deactivated" due to repair work at other rail crossings nearby that had malfunctioned a few days ago.

Gagnon said at the time of the incident, VIA crew members had exited the train to stop traffic before the locomotive was allowed to pass through. He added that drivers or pedestrians were not in any danger at any time.

The photograph was taken near the site of a fatal crash last September, in which more than 30 people were taken to hospital after a double-decker bus slammed into a Via Rail train. OC Transpo bus driver David Woodward was among the six people who were killed.

A Transportation Safety Board probe of the crash revealed the gates, lights and bells at the level crossing were all functioning at the time. The investigation also revealed that the train's crew had applied its emergency brakes two seconds prior to the crash.

According to bus passengers who survived the crash, some were yelling at the driver to slow down seconds before the impact.

The photo of the deactivated protective railroad arms and lights came on the same day an independent review recommended OC Transpo keep its current policy of not stopping at non-flashing railway crossings.

According to the review, there is actually an increased risk of collisions if buses are required to stop at non-flashing level crossings.

The $34,000-review was conducted by MMM Group and was paid for by the city.

With files from CTV Ottawa