©(Jack Cusano/Sun Media)

An overhead construction crane today crashed into a light-rail transit train in Calgary.

An Enmax-operated crane swung into action 15 minutes before they were authorized to, striking and derailing a moving C-Train - sending six people to hospital, said a fire department spokeswoman.

The truck-mounted crane was set to do cable work along the LRT line at 10:30 a.m., which would have briefly suspended C-Train movement through the corridor between the Brentwood and Dalhousie Stations, said Deb Bergeson.

But a southbound three-car C-Train plowed into the boom as it swung low over the tracks at 10:14 a.m. between Northland and Brisebois Drives, she added.

"It appears the boom was employed prior to being authorized," she said.

"There'll be an investigation into why this happened."

Sebastien Gariepy was on the train headed for the Bow River to do some fishing when he felt the train shudder.

"It shook quite hard and I came off my seat and everybody was screaming ... we went sideways a little and then weren't moving," said Gariepy, 27.

Gariepy said he made his way over shattered glass and twisted metal to the driver's compartment, which took the brunt of the impact and was a mangled shambles.

The crane boom also sliced deeply into the roof of the train.

"The C-Train driver was really bleeding a lot - I got the driver out and pulled the glass off him," said Gariepy, adding he saw a woman who was thrown to the floor and bleeding.

The unconscious driver, he said, then came to and began asking about his passengers, who numbered 36.

"He said he was sorry," said Gariepy, who suffered only a small cut to his right leg.

Another passenger said the C-Train driver honked his horn repeatedly just before the crash.

None of the injured - which included one child - suffered life-threatening injuries, though the driver was most seriously hurt.

The toll could have been much worse had it been during a rush hour, said EMS spokesman Stuart Brideaux.

"If it was a different time of day with a packed train, it could have been different," said Brideaux.

Transit officials say the tracks at the accident spot were badly damaged and might take two days to repair.

Shuttle buses were employed to take C-Train passengers from Dalhousie Station to Banff Tr. Station.