News release

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) released its investigation report (R24D0070) into a 2024 occurrence involving a VIA Rail Canada Inc. passenger train that passed a stop signal during a movement to a maintenance facility in Montréal, Quebec.

On September 29, 2024, after passengers and on-board personnel disembarked at Montréal Central Station, a VIA Rail Canada train crew received permission to take the train to a nearby maintenance facility. During this routine maneuver, the train must back up to Victoria Bridge and take the crossover leading to the maintenance facility.

The train initially stopped before a red Stop signal. While waiting, the crew member in the tail-end car perceived that the top light of the signal changed to yellow, which was interpreted as permissive, so the train continued past the signal. The train crew expected the signal to change to a permissive indication and so the perceived change was interpreted as valid. However, the yellow colour was likely caused by the reflection of sunlight on the lens surface. While backing up, the train passed the signal which was still displaying a red Stop indication, before coming to a stop after running through a switch. After the train stopped as the tail end car ran through the switch, a freight train travelling westward on the same track came to a stop 1700 feet behind VIA train. There was no collision or derailment, and there were no injuries.

This occurrence is another example of the risks posed by relying solely on administrative defences to prevent signal indications not being followed. The TSB has recently issued a new recommendation (R25-01) and re-iterated a recommendation (R22-04) calling for enhanced train control systems and interim measures aimed reducing the risks of accidents due to not following signal indications not following signal indications, a TSB Watchlist issue.

See the investigation page for more information.