On March 1st, 2nd and 5th, VIA trains across Canada sounded the long whistle at 3:26 p.m. in honor of crew members who were killed in a derailment on February 26, 2012.

The long, mournful sound of trains' whistles was heard across Canada on March 1st, 2nd and 5th to pay tribute to three VIA Rail crew members who were killed in a derailment on February 26, 2012.

On February 26, 2012 a VIA Rail Canada train number 92, en route from Niagara Falls to Toronto was involved in an accident at 3:26 p.m. in Burlington, Ontario. There were 75 passengers and five crew members on board the train where all six cars were derailed. There were numerous injuries among the passengers and three crew members were killed. Ken Simmonds, 56 years old, and Peter Snarr, 52 years old, were both from Toronto, Ontario and both had more than 30 years of service as locomotive engineers with CN and VIA. The third crew member was Patrick Robinson, 40 years old, who was from Cornwall, Ontario. Patrick was a new VIA employee who was on board as an observer as part of his familiarization program.

In memory of Ken Simmonds, Patrick Robinson and Peter Snarr, VIA Rail observed 3 minutes of silence at 3:26PM EST on March 1st, 2nd and 5th. These are the dates upon which the funerals or visitations of the crew members took place. VIA also sounded a long whistle on all its trains at this time (where appropriate) in honor of these men.

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