(The Canadian Press circulated the following on December 16.)
OTTAWA — A death threat by an angry cook, shards of broken glass in the fruit salad and drunk or disorderly passengers are just a few of the notable incidents on Via Rail trains cited in this year’s internal security reports.
The reports, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, offer a glimpse of bizarre and occasionally dangerous happenings on the Crown corporation’s passenger trains.
The incidents range from humorous to tragic.
For instance, Via duty officers were notified on July 30 when a cook became aggressive after a seemingly routine request by a supervisor.
“It was reported by the Service Co-ordinator that when asked to make club sandwiches, the cook refused, threatened to kill the Service Co-ordinator and then punched the wall,” says one report.
That alleged death threat followed a previous one in April, when an employee working aboard a train “was heard on a few occasions to say ‘he would like to see someone come in the office at 895 de la Gauchetiere with a rifle and kill them all.’ ” The street address refers to Montreal’s Central Station, under the Queen Elizabeth Hotel.
Via spokeswoman Catherine Kaloutsky shed more light last week on the two alleged death threats.
Via’s security department and the service co-ordinator immediately reviewed the incident involving the cook who punched the wall, she said.
“What was found was that the employee appears to have lost his temper, and he made the threatening remark toward his service co-ordinator,” Kaloutsky said. She added that the service co-ordinator has since pressed criminal charges against the cook.
It’s not known if the cook still works for Via, but Kaloutsky said she “doesn’t have any information that indicates that he’s no longer with the company.”
In the other case involving Central Station, the Via employee was immediately called before his manager and the director of security to explain his comments, Kaloutsky said.
The employee assured Via staff that he was misunderstood and was then cleared by management to return to work, she said.
“There was no disciplinary action taken. He still does work for Via.”
The rail service screens all prospective hires to make sure they meet nearly a dozen security and competency requirements, Kaloutsky added, and new employees are also required to serve a probationary period.
“There are several different stages that an employee will go through in qualifying themselves for various positions. I can tell you that right now, we had for several years now, a very detailed competency list,” Kaloutsky said.
“There’s 11 competencies that any employee, regardless of what position they’re being hired for, are evaluated against . . . as well as a few other things. But the competencies are very, very critical to the employment.”
The reports also cite three incidents in which passengers travelling in business class found shards of glass in their food, including a woman who “cut her lip on a piece of glass that was in her fruit bowl” and a man who may have swallowed some glass that he thought was frosting on his dessert.
Another passenger cut the inside of his mouth on a broken-off piece of his casserole dish.
None of the passengers have sued Via, Kaloutsky said, noting the rail company serves about 500,000 business-class meals each year on the Quebec City to Windsor, Ont. corridor.
Via has since changed the type of glass bowls and casserole dishes it uses, she said, and has told its staff to be more vigilant in checking for broken pieces.
Unruly passengers appear often in the reports, from an elderly man flashing passengers to drunken passengers causing a stir – such as one intoxicated woman who threatened the crew when she missed her stop in Windsor, Ont.
“When she realized that she missed her stop she attempted to open the doors while the train was in motion,” the report said.
Via staff called the authorities to remove her from the train and took similar action against other disruptive passengers.
“We don’t hesitate to take action if safety and security is an issue,” Kaloutsky said.
The security reports also note 36 times between January and November when Via trains struck vehicles or people on the tracks. The reports say 14 of those people died.
Via was not at fault in any of the collisions, Canada’s transportation watchdog said.
“These are not a systemic problem. They’re not a systemic issue. They’re individual incidents of trespassing,” said Transportation Safety Board spokesman John Cottreau.
Collisions are classified on a five-point scale, he said. So-called class one incidents call for a full public inquiry, while class five incidents are logged in the agency’s database with no plans for further follow-up.
All of the 36 collisions were found to be class five, Cottreau said.