A damaged CN railway track that escaped notice during routine inspections was the cause of a derailment that forced the evacuation of a neighbourhood in Dartmouth, a federal safety board has concluded.

The accident, in which rail cars loaded with propane and butane jumped the tracks, shows why Ottawa should require more monitoring of rail yards across Canada, says the lead investigator with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.
"There are many Dartmouths across Canada that have similar age and infrastructure and traffic levels," said Don Ross, who studied the Feb. 15, 2002, derailment for the board.

His report concluded: "Monthly inspections . . . were performed in Dartmouth Yard, but as evidenced by this accident, they were not frequent enough to identify emerging defects on a frequently used yard track." The five-car derailment caused a power outage, temporarily closed a busy bridge and forced 800 people from their homes. There was no fire or injuries.

However, the board said the incident highlights the lack of attention to tracks in a densely populated area. "The conditions of the track we identified in the investigation were pretty obvious," said Ross. "I have no reasons as to why track inspections wouldn't have identified those types of defects."

Investigators found "deteriorated wooden ties," which allowed the rails to spread apart when trains rolled over them. The report said the distance between the two rails, known as the track gauge, had widened to the point where the gap exceeded federal rules.

A spokesman for Canadian National said its staff had followed rules that required monthly visual inspections. "Based on the inspections, everything seemed to be fine," said Ian Thomson.

However, the safety board had recommended almost four years ago that more inspections were needed in urban rail yards across Canada. That recommendation stemmed from the 1998 derailment of three cars loaded with anhydrous ammonia in the CN rail yard in Concord, Ont.

Thomson said CN won't change its inspection policies in heavily used yards until new national regulations are in place. He noted the company has implemented more frequent and thorough inspections in its MacMillan Yard in Concord since the accident there. At that station, "risk-based" inspections are tied to the frequency of use and the tonnage on the tracks, he said.

Asked why the system wasn't applied to the Dartmouth yard, Thomson replied: "It's because the overall system on a national basis is regulated by Transport Canada, and for yard tracks the rule is still a monthly inspection."

Transport Canada and the Railway Association of Canada created a committee last April to consider rule changes. Cathy Cossaboom, a spokeswoman for the federal department, said the committee expects to recommend new regulations this year, though she was unable to offer a precise date.