Report: Bus driver acted ‘responsibly’ at railway crossing

MILTON, Ontario — An investigation by the Halton Regional Police Service into an incident last month involving a school bus and a train has revealed that the school bus driver acted responsibly, professionally and with the best interests of the students on board in mind.

On Oct. 27, it was reported that the school bus driver had narrowly avoided a collision with a train at a crossing in Milton. However, the investigation has shown that the school bus stopped as required before the crossing arms at the tracks. The driver listened and looked for any train traffic and when there was no indication that a train was coming, he began to drive the bus across the tracks.

The driver had just started moving the bus forward when signals began to alert the arrival of a service train. The driver of the bus stopped immediately, and the crossing arms at the tracks descended and came in contact with the back half of the bus.

The bus driver was worried that traffic behind him would not be able to see the crossing arms, so he pulled forward to a point where the arms fell behind the bus. An employee of the Canadian Pacific Railway was at the location during the incident and he confirmed that the bus was several meters away from the used service tracks and at no time was anyone in danger.

The students on the bus were reportedly calm during the incident and once the driver reached his scheduled destination, they disembarked without questioning or commenting on the incident. The bus driver then returned to his operation’s bus garage and reported the incident to his supervisor.