THE MOON AND THE TORONTO TRANSIT COMMISSION
CASA LOMA/RUSSELL HILL SUBWAY ACCIDENT AUGUST 11th 1995
INQUEST DAY 11 -
Monday 22nd January 1996
DISCIPLINE AND
REACTIONS
Mr. Brian Tyrrell, Superintendent of
the YUS Subway but at the time of the accident Supt. at Wilson, was the first
witness of the day. Mr. Punter lead him through the discipline procedure and
especially what has been called an "amnesty" when it came to Signal
violations. This amnesty has been in place since 1993(?) in an effort to curtail
a rash of damage to trip cocks and trip arms as a result of signal violations.
The idea is that even though you may trip, please report it so we can check to
see if there has been any damage done. The witness did not provide any
indications, either to Mr. Punter or to other counsel as to what was being done
about the cause of these signal violations. No evidence has yet been offered as
to the nature of the situation. I don't remember Mr. Reidak even mentioning it.
Mr. Punter has discovered that
Management views things differently from operators - this amnesty is a good
example. Mr. Punter still doesn't know what an interlocking signal is - came
out in testimony about Mr. Jeffrey's crashing the X6 at York Mills the previous
day. Mr. Jeffrey was not disciplined correctly with the known facts although
Mr. Tyrrell said he was.
Mr. Gomberg, Mrs. Zaba's counsel,
lead Mr. Tyrrell through the discipline process in great detail. He got him to
agree that:-
the inspector at Finch had
"counselled" Mr. Jeffrey and told him to prepare a written report
the Transit Control Centre, who knew
that the X6 had been fixed, told Mr. Jeffrey that he didn't need to do a report
because the signal "was broken"
Mr. Jeffrey got what his guard
called a "freebie" from Transit Control, a comment that Mr. Tyrrell
and Mr. Leck objected to despite it's accuracy.
In the past, trainees used to get
their subway revenue training with "just plain guys" because there
were only 10 Divisional Trainers. Now there are 16 Divisional Trainers and
nobody gets to go out with "just plain guys" anymore.
The phrase "signal tower"
was not used and further confusion has been thrown into the ring between what
goes on at the terminals and what goes on in Transit Control.
The Jury and Dr Huxter questioned Mr.
Tyrrell on the subject of the guards responsibility in the case of a trip.
There is none now.
The next witness was Mel Lumsden, the
guard of run 34. Before giving evidence, Mr. Punter granted Mr. Lumsden and all
operator witnesses the protection of the Canada Evidence Act which he explained
(as I understood him) as being required in order for the witnesses to testify
without the fear of reprisals.
This was a trained witness. All the
answers were given pat. The red light and a lunar is confusing; needs more
training time in the cab during revenue operation; the railing at St Clair West
obscures the lunar white; thought it would be a good idea to have someone greet
him on his first day.
Before I discuss anything further, I
would like my readers to put themselves in the place of the four operators of
runs 34 and 35. First of all, none of you has been in the subway for more than
a couple of years (not sure how this relates to the guard of 35), some of you
joined the TTC so you could drive subway trains, others of you are a bit
reticent, in fact you got "forced" into the subway as a result of
lack of bus crews. The radio has been fairly quiet, no more than the usual
noisy nonsense from Transit Control, half of which you can't hear. Within an
hour you discover that you have been involved in something so unique it has
never happened before. You are the centre of attention for days from your
family, your doctors, your employer, your union, your mates, the media, the
police, the coroners office, the TTC lawyers, your Superintendent and every
other Tom, Dick and Harry who ever had a question to ask. The heat and the
horror of the crash site you have just left and through which you have helped
injured passengers and been close to dead ones is burned into your memory with
a force you'll NEVER forget
.................. but then you have memory lapses !!!!!
Mr. Lumsden couldn't remember what
the OTC had said to him when he complained about the only thing he found wrong
with the training course (not enough revenue run time), couldn't recall any
announcements, didn't know of situations between St Clair West and Dupont,
unable to remember how many times the train had stopped between St Clair West
and the accident or for how long, didn't remember calling his mate, Mr.
DeSantos, before calling the TCC, thought the time to wait before calling
Transit Control was two minutes.
All other witnesses so far to this
point are one minute. For an experienced operator any time is too long to wait
given that Transit Control's record on the Aug. 11th tape gives the impression
that TCC is not paying close enough attention to calls from the operators. In
Mr. Lumsden's opinion, he is in contact with TCC every day and that once or
twice a month he hangs up because TCC does not respond.
Mr. Punter's wish list drew out the
required Flashlight response.
B-I-G F-A-T H-I-N-T T-O A-N-Y-O-N-E L-I-S-T-E-N-I-N-G
Rush out to the nearest supplier and pick up some of those key
ring flashlights. Have the word "SAFETY" all over it and the TTC icon
prominently displayed. Hand one to every single TTC employee with a promise to
replace the battery or even the whole key ring if necessary --
but do it NOW !!!!!!! You can include pensioners in this if you like!!!!
==========================================
Mr. Lumsden is the second employee to
mention that operators cannot do first aid, that's why there's no first aid
kit. And here Uncle Mel Lastman's training cab drivers to deliver babies -
there is some definite wire crossing going on here.
Mr. Lumsden thinks that the idea of
lunar whites and red aspects goes against the reflexes. Give that man a Punter
Star!!!
Mr. Gomberg had Mr. Lumsden describe
the cab layouts and Mr. Lumsden got lost. The Car to Wayside system came in for
further criticism.
Mr. Falzone asked what was the cause
of tension and pressure on the first days of operating a subway train? Mr.
Lumsden replied that it was the first time that he had ever met a situation
where you could run up to a red light and know it was going to change. I began
to wonder if this man had ever driven a bus or other road vehicle before.
With all the talk we've heard about
freebies, I think Mr. Lumsden got a freebie from this court. One can detect the
withdrawal from contentious areas, no-one wants to be the first to open the
floodgates.
A major breach took place with Mr.
DeSantos who was most forthcoming in his descriptions of his actions up to and
after the collision. It is a pity that after such a good effort and despite
counsels "many attempts at revisiting the question", Mr. DeSantos
could not be encouraged to describe an automatic keyby. It is my impression
that he didn't get much training about such in the school and it has become
such a dirty word in the subway that it is no wonder he didn't know about it.
There is a SERIOUS situation here. Mr. DeSantos described a major difficulty in
getting hold of Transit Control (via the overload, dial second number message
we have heard about). Please see the official transcript for details - he ain't
the only one chaps !!!!!
Mr. Gomberg got this witness "to
sort of agree" that the phrase "Are you having trouble with your
train Sir?" is a euphemism for "Keep up with the headway Sir!!"
COMMENTS
1)
Today we heard very clear evidence that it is more important at the TTC to
speak in the Politically Correct way than to operate with clarity and
efficiency. I offer two examples from today's testimony:-
Brian
Tyrrell just couldn't stop saying MotorPerson. For my whole life I have heard
of motormen ..... well you get the message. Mr. Tyrrell has been poisoned, as
have so many people I know with this situation of using the word man. I realize
I am tilting at windmills but it is my belief that one of the situations we
have in our communications is that no-one knows what we are talking about, are
you having trouble with YOUR train Sir? Have you noticed it is not
Personslaughter or Personhandle yet ????
Much more serious is Mr. Tyrell’s
admittance that at the TTC the word "Counseling" has lost it's
general connotation of offering help. He described the new procedure of counseling
operators who have tripped as being equated with discipline. Counseling does
not include disciplining, it is concerned with assisting another human being to
cope with difficulty. But now, operators who trip are counseled, i.e. they get
to go to the school on their own time without pay for a "refresher"
course. But we can communicate - can't we???
2) Today's evidence raised a number of
points in my mind which I will just enumerate here. I suggest that all my
readers give some thought to the solutions to these situations because if we
don't ................
a) Mr. Gomberg scored the most direct hit
of the inquest in questioning Mr. Tyrrell. He got Mr. Tyrrell to agree, with
the help of documentary evidence, that Mr. Jeffrey had been counseled by the
Finch inspector to put in a written report for his X6 trip at York Mills. That
Transit Control, who should have been aware of the completion of the X6
situation, told Mr. Jeffrey that he didn't need to put in a report due to
Signal failure. Mr. Gomberg has discovered that we are unable to carry
information for a few hours to help us deal with current situations. If Howard
Moscoe thinks we want Battlestar Gallactica, he'd better watch out for this
jury!!!!
b) Advice to potential witnesses who wear
contact lenses. Wear glasses for the day, the dryness in the courtroom makes
your eyes look bloodshot with consequent presentation of uncertainty!!
c) We obviously need a complete
redefinition of what a signal violation is. Operators should not have the
impression that keying by is a sin which is the case now. There are many good
and valid reasons for keybys. By putting the fear of God into operators over
proceeding past a signal, we then ask him to tie down trip arms etc. If I was
an operator, I'd be confused by these mixed messages. For an operator to be not
aware of an automatic keyby, despite as much coaching as counsel could
rightfully give, means that our
training and operation of the subway requires some drastic rethinking. There is
not, and I repeat not, anything unsafe or unusual about our subway operations
but, in a very Star Trek way, we have imbued it with powers it does not have
and it is running us, we are not running it.
d) Despite descriptions of the Lunar White
system as a counterintuitive thing, which counsel is encouraging, I would
remind my readers that the operation of road traffic signals have advanced
greens, there is a yellow aspect before turning red, flashing lights at a
railway crossing indicate the imminent arrival of a train and an even more
imminent ("Perhaps I can Beat it !!") lowering of the gates, the
following of one number by another to indicate an elevator rising through a
building - all of these are examples of our use of expectations and I'm sure we
can think of a lot more. If I have been told that a Lunar White showing means
my next signal will clear if I behave myself and I get lots of confirmations of
this during my training and over the days, months and years I operate in the
Subway, I am not going to find it any more counterintuitive than the examples I
have quoted.
e) Both Mr. Lumsden and Mr. DeSantos said
that they liked to see the train stop, it was even on Mr. Lumsden's wish list
that the train stop heads be painted white (where have I heard that before??).
What was not ascertained from either witness was why the necessity to SEE the
train stop.
f) There is evidence that the guards and
motormen are not using the internal car radio system properly. If I was a guard
and I knew what a trip felt like, I would sure want to ask my buddy what had
happened, especially if I knew that there was going to be discipline and I may
have to operate the train. The fact that this is not happening is an agreement
with the evidence that the trainstop and trip cocks are getting hit and damaged
much more often than is thought. It is not a sin to hit a train stop. Better
they get hit than we run into the back of stationary trains killing people
whatever the cost of replacement of the signal or car equipment. We might also
get a fleet of drivers who DO know that the system is safe, and they have
confidence in it because they USE it, not let it use them.
g) I am going to invent a new phrase here:-
"a lunar white indicated red" or LWIR. It is obvious from the
testimony so far that an LWIR clearance policy is required. Should an LWIR go
to yellow a minimum of 10 to 15 seconds before the train reaches it like a
regular signal? Should it be seen to clear just as the train passes it (through
the side window as evidence suggests some drivers see the yellow)? Should the
LWIR stay at red all the time and let the drivers operate on the trips, which
is what they are doing anyway ("I want to see the trips. In fact I want to
see them so much, I want them painted white!!")
Day 12 promises Mr. Jeffrey
Dave Irwin -
22 January 1996
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