(SOUTHWEST MIDDLESEX, ON) – Members of the Middlesex County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), and the OPP Technical Traffic Collision Investigation (TTCI) Team, assisted by the Strathroy Caradoc Fire Department (Melbourne Station), and the Strathroy Caradoc Police Service (SCPS), investigated a fatal collision involving a motor vehicle and a train on September 5, 2014.
At approximately 2:55 p.m. a black 2004 Saturn car travelling southbound on Melbourne Road, and a westbound VIA train travelling on the CN tracks just north of Andrews Drive, collided.
The lone occupant of the motor vehicle, Sheila BENDALL age 64, of Southwest Middlesex, Ontario, was ejected, and pronounced dead at the scene.
There were no reported injuries to the 155 passengers on the train. The train was delayed, but was able to transport the passengers and continue to its intended destination(s).
The railroad crossing signal on the north side of the east/west level crossing was damaged in the collision. It was repaired, and the tracks have been re-opened.
The OPP Technical Traffic Collision Investigation (TTCI) Team was on scene to investigate. Melbourne Road remained closed between Glendon Drive, south to Parkhouse Drive, but the road has since been re-opened.
This incident remains under investigation.