It's been one year since a horrific via rail passenger train derailment in Burlington that took the lives of three people.
Hotel staff members at the Holiday Inn on Huron Church Road are remembering Via Rail operators Ken Simmonds, Peter Snarr and Patrick Robinson, who died on Feb. 26, 2013.
"It was like someone just took my heart out, ripped it out," says Steve Belanger, Holiday Inn front desk representative.
The Via employees would often sleep at the Holiday Inn, with Windsor being the last stop.
"It's just hitting home again," says Belanger. "They all stick out because they had different personalities, but all I can say is they were all humble, down to earth people."
A memorial stone was unveiled Tuesday at the front entrance of the hotel.
A Transportation Safety Board of Canada official says the investigation into what happened is in its final stage.
Rob Johnston, the safety board's manager for Central Region Operations, says the train itself appeared to be in good working order before it went off the tracks, but it was travelling too fast.
“What we don't know is why the crew didn't reply to the signals,” says Johnston. “We also know that the train went through the cross over at 67 miles per hour - four times more than the authorized speed.”
Forty-four passengers and one other Via worker were also injured.
