Commuters are creatures of habit, taking the same route at roughly same time every day. That has some commuters at Fallowfield Station wondering if it could have been them in Wednesday morning’s deadly crash between an OC Tranpso bus and a Via Rail train.
"It's kind of scary because I was supposed to be in class that day at that time. So it's scary because it could happen to anybody," says Amber Lindsay.
"I actually got called into work early yesterday. And usually my express bus comes by here at 8:48 every morning," adds Shannon Partridge.
Dharani Das points out "Yesterday my wife could have taken that bus. We just missed it. I was there and she was running. And we just missed it for a minute, probably. And it could have happened to her too."
Yet despite the trepidation, and knowing the wreckage of the deadly crash sits just a few hundred metres away, the daily commute goes on. "I mean, we have to go on with our lives and this is how I get around so we have to do it. But it's certainly in the back of my head for sure," says Erin Williams.
And it’s not just echoes of the crash itself that are affecting commuters. The investigation into the crash has closed the transitway. Busses are detouring onto Woodroffe Avenue, adding to the already heavy commuter traffic in and out of Barrhaven. Riders, and drivers, can expect delays.
Eventually the investigation will end and, one way or another, the daily commute will return to normal.
But for commuters like Shannon Partridge the trip will never be the same. "I think the first time I get back on that express bus I won't be sitting up top at the front like I usually do. And, you know, you'll definitely hold your breath when you go over those train tracks for sure."
