Just as Transport Canada eased restrictions on CN Rail operations near Squamish, British Columbia, on Wednesday, the company experienced yet another series of derailments.
On Thursday, a CN Rail train derailed between Prince George and Fort St. James in northeast B.C. Railway spokesman Graham Dallas says 15 cars of the northbound train left the tracks at about 04:00 PST, about 10 miles east of Fort St. James. He says most of the cars in the 48-car train were empty forest products cars.
There were no injuries and no hazardous materials were involved.
Prior to Thursday's incident, Transport Canada had ordered CN Rail to provide better training for its crews. The national transportation agency also announced that Transport Canada inspectors will monitor CN train movement as part of new safety requirements along the former BC Rail route.
The requirements were proposed by CN after Transport Minister Jean Lapierre last week restricted CN to a maximum of 80 cars for all northbound trains along the BC Rail track from Squamish to the B.C. Interior. The program will extend over a 60-day trial period, during which CN "will have to abide by a strict set of safety requirements to help ensure they can operate safely in the Squamish region," Lapierre said in a news release.
Legal action would be implemented if CN refuses to comply with its new orders -- but spokesmen for both Transport Canada and CN noted that the railway itself suggested the new conditions under which it will operate in the area. In exchange, CN can now run as many as 99 cars northbound along the BCR, provided the train's locomotive power is distributed between engines at the front and middle of the train.
Further east, a pair of derailments on the CN Redditt Subdivision have forced the company to reroute trains to the adjacent Canadian Pacific Railway tracks. Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the derailment of an eastbound train Tuesday morning just east of the Highway 658 crossing in Redditt, Ontario. CN Rail Public Affairs spokesman Jim Feeny said the cause is still under investigation by CN, who will report their findings to both Transport Canada and the Transportation Safety Board.
Feeny would not speculate on the cause of the derailment, which occurred while the train was passing through the Redditt highway crossing and travelling only 10 miles per hour. However, when questioned, he admitted the derailment was unusual, but not unheard of.
Then on Wednesday, CN Rail train Q11531-13 derailed at Onaping, Ontario, at 21:55 CST, on the Allanwater Subdivision. The incident is currently impacting trains operating between Toronto and Winnipeg. According to current estimates, the site will be cleared by 14:00 CST on Friday, December 16th. Customers should expect that affected traffic will be delayed from 24 to 36 hours.
