VIA Rail admits OC Transpo bus did not cause crossing malfunction

CTV Ottawa: VIA Rail retracts accusation CTV's John Hua on Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson demanding public retraction from VIA Rail.

CTV News has learned that an OC Transpo bus was not the cause of a VIA Rail crossing malfunction on April 28, 2014

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is demanding a public retraction from the rail company.

In a press release, the rail company blamed contact with an OC Transpo bus for the malfunction at the Fallowfield crossing.

“The damage caused to the gate prevented it from remaining upright thus, triggering the fail-safe more and extending the period during which it remained in effect,” it reads.

Further investigation showed the OC Transpo bus did not cause the crossing to malfunction.

“They’ve now come back and said that the bus didn’t damage the arm that went down on Monday night. We’ve asked them to correct the record for that,” says Mayor Watson.

It was actually a separate crossing gate at the intersection that made contact with the device’s windbreak.

The false accusation came days after the mayor forced VIA Rail executives to come to Ottawa to address public concerns over the ongoing issues with the rail crossing.

Preliminary findings showed that the malfunctions were caused by hydro power interference, debris and freezing within the rail ballasts, and the close proximity of the crossings within a small area.

In a statement, VIA Rail writes:

"...the fail-safe mode may not have been caused by the OC Transpo bus hitting the north gate at Fallowfield Road."

But adds, on two reported incidents:

"OC Transpo buses stopped beyond the stop line. For VIA Rail, these types of breaches are unacceptable."

A police investigation called by VIA Rail also showed there was no criminal tampering.

“It’s not helpful and I don’t know what was motivating VIA but at the end of the day my number one concern… is to get the VIA rail signals fixed once and for all,” says Watson.

With a report from CTV’s John Hua.