Transportation Safety Board issues 2 safety advisories after Field train derailment
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada issued two safety advisories Thursday, following a deadly train derailment near Field, B.C. in February.
Three Calgary men who worked for Canadian Pacific Railway were killed on Feb. 4 when their train derailed and plunged into a river east of Field, B.C. Conductor Dylan Paradis, locomotive engineer Andrew Dockrell and conductor trainee Daniel Waldenberger-Bulmer were killed in the incident.
The derailment happened on the CP Rail main line between the Upper and Lower Spiral Tunnels, which were built to accommodate a steep grade change east of Field at the continental divide.
The day after the deadly derailment, the TSB said the train was stopped with air brakes applied for about three hours when it began to move on its own. The train then accelerated to a speed in excess of 32 kilometres per hour, TSB senior investigator James Carmichael said on Feb. 5.
There were no handbrakes applied to the train, according to the TSB.
On Thursday, the TSB said it has advised Transport Canada to review the efficacy of air brake system inspection and maintenance procedures for grain hopper cars used in unit train operations, and ensure that these cars can be operated safely at all times.
The TSB also advised Transport Canada to ensure that effective safety procedures are applied to all trains stopped in emergency on both “heavy grades” and “mountain grades.”
Watch below: Global News coverage of the train derailment near Field, B.C. in February
The train was heading west to Vancouver when 99 cars and two locomotives derailed. The train was a distributed power unit grain train composed of 112 covered hopper cars and three locomotives, according to the TSB.
After the derailment, the TSB said only 13 cars and the tail end locomotive remained on the track.
The TSB said Thursday its investigation is in the examination and analysis phase. The next steps in the investigation include looking into the weather conditions and the railway’s winter operating plan.
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