Families of all 5 passengers who died in bus-train crash have sued city, bus driver's estate

The families of all five passengers who died in the Sept. 2013 Ottawa bus-train crash have now filed lawsuits against the city and the bus driver's estate, just days before the two-year anniversary of the collision on Friday.

Relatives of Karen Krzyzewski and Connor Boyd filed lawsuits Tuesday against the city and the estate of the OC Transpo driver, Dave Woodard, who was also killed in the Sept. 18 crash when the bus he was driving collided with a Via Rail passenger train.

The families of Michael Bleakney, Rob More and Kyle Nash, the three other passengers who died, filed lawsuits in 2014.

The deadline for plaintiffs to file civil claims is two years after an incident. The window for the bus-train crash closes Friday.

Boyd's parents, grandparents and sister are suing the city, Woodard's estate, Via Rail and the train's conductor for $850,000. Their statement of claim says the defendants should compensate for his mother's loss of income because she can't handle the stress of her former job anymore.

Kryzewski's son, daughter and sister are suing the city and Woodard's estate for $900,000, citing a loss of care, guidance and companionship, as well as financial losses related to her death.

Passengers who were injured but survived have also filed at least 27 lawsuits related to the crash, according to court records. Two of them were filed Tuesday.

In a statement of defence filed in some of the lawsuits, the city claims Via Rail's negligence was to blame and that neither the city nor Woodard were responsible. City lawyers also filed a third-party claim against Via Rail Canada as part of their defence.

Last month, Via Rail filed its own lawsuit against the city and Woodard's estate.