Calgary

Tuscany C-Train derailment ejected passengers from their seats

Dan Duplessis was one of the three passengers on board the C-Train that crashed through a fence at the Tuscany LRT station on Tuesday.

Eyewitness says he's ‘lucky’ he wasn’t sitting in front car of train

'It came to a halt very quickly with a crashing sound, throwing us across the car,' says Dan Duplessis, one of the passengers on the train. (Evelyne Asselin/CBC)

A passenger who was aboard the C-Train that crashed through a fence and derailed at the Tuscany LRT on Tuesday says he's "lucky" he wasn't seated at the front of the train, where the driver was.

"She was definitely in a lot worse shape than the passengers," said Dan Duplessis. "When she was brought out … there was a lot of blood."

The freelance photographer had some his equipment with him, and took several eyewitness photos. 

The three-car C-Train was going 60 km/h when it left the tracks and struck a power pole.

A female passenger was in the second car and Duplessis and another male passenger were seated in the third car,  at the very back of the train.

"It came to a halt very quickly with a crashing sound, ah, throwing us across the car," he told the Calgary Eyeopener on Tuesday.

None of the passengers were injured, but weights from the power pole crashed through the windshield, and landed in the cab — just missing the operator.

"The last car was actually on the track still, the other two were derailed on the gravel," he said.

"It was like a boat beaching itself."

The train crashed through a fence at the end of the line. The Tuscany LRT station can be seen just behind it in this photo. (Evelyne Asselin/CBC)

Train going wrong direction

Instead of heading back towards downtown Calgary, the driver drove west — crashing into the end of the red line.

"It was fairly confusing at first. I assumed that the train was just adjusting on the platform, pulling ahead a little bit. But it picked up speed fairly rapidly as if it was going to another station," Duplessis said.

He pushed the emergency help button on the train, but after it rang unanswered for several minutes — he called Calgary Transit on his phone, to alert them.

The city has not determined the cause of the accident and an investigation is underway.


With files from the Calgary Eyeopener