Metrolinx has launched a safety campaign after a passenger’s bag was ripped off their shoulder by a passing train at Long Branch Go Station earlier this week.
The incident occurred just before 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
According to Metrolinx, a passenger was walking along the yellow line on the platform when their bag was hooked by a VIA Rail train.
The passenger was not harmed in the incident but the train ended up having to do an emergency stop, resulting in delays of up to 60 minutes on GO Transit’s Lakeshore West line.
“One of our riders made a very serious mistake by steeping onto the yellow line in order to get around a crowd of people. A train coming past hooked her backpack off her shoulder and fortunately it was on one shoulder only. If it was on two shoulders it could have been a fatal accident,” Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster told CP24 on Friday morning. “Please, please stay off the yellow line. It really is crucially important for our safety and for your safety.”
Verster said that there are plans to launch a wider safety campaign in the wake of the incident that will include the distribution of video clips of other “near miss incidents” at GO stations.
GO Transit has previously urged commuters to carry their backpacks while on busy platforms and failing that to hang it off a single shoulder instead of two in the event its caught by a train.
“Too many people think trains are safe; trains are not,” Verster told CP24. “Trains are quiet, trains are dangerous, trains run at speed so we are encouraging all of our customers, all of our riders, anyone around the railway to always look, listen and be careful.”
