TORONTO -- A U.S. jury has ordered Canadian National Railway Co. to pay $54-million (U.S.) to three family members who suffered brain damage after their vehicle was struck by a freight train early last year, reports the Globe and Mail.

CN said it will appeal the size of the award, the largest ever granted in a railway crossing case in Illinois, where the accident occurred.

"We've never denied liability in this particular case, but we expect that the award will be appealed on the basis that it is excessive," CN spokesman Mark Hallman said.

Mr. Hallman said CN will be directly liable for the first $5-million of damages, while insurance will cover the rest.

Lilia Apulello, 40, and her parents Fidel Velarde, 73, and Francisca Velarde, 73, were hurt in January, 2001, at a CN crossing in Bloomingdale, Ill.

At the time of the accident, the signals at the railway crossing were not functioning properly and trains had been ordered to inch slowly across the crossing to ensure that traffic was stopped.

But a CN dispatcher confused two railway crossings and told a freight train to cross the road at 80 kilometres an hour, where it struck Ms. Apulello's sport utility vehicle.

During the two-week trial, one doctor testified that Ms. Apulello is headed toward a vegetative state as a result of the collision, according to her lawyer John Nisivaco.

"The testimony in the case was that she went from a hard-working, very competent mother and wife to a completely incompetent, fearful, scared person with a mental capacity of an 8-year-old. She'll never recover from the brain injury," he said.

Under the settlement, Ms. Apulello and her husband will receive $33-million and her parents will receive $21-million.

Mr. Nisivaco said the money will be used to provide home health care and rehabilitation the family could not otherwise afford.

Mr. Nisivaco said that while CN never denied that it was negligent, the Montreal-based railway did argue that Ms. Apulello was also negligent in the accident. The jury found that CN and an affiliated railway were 95 per cent liable in the case, while Ms. Apulello was 5 per cent liable.

Timothy Cavanagh, the lawyer representing Ms. Apulello's 73-year-old parents, said the court heard testimony that his clients had also suffered brain injuries.

CN posted a profit of $1-billion (Canadian) last year. CN's direct liability of $5-million (U.S.) in the case amounts to approximately 3 cents a share.