By Canadian Press

Track failure led to train derailment in northern B.C.: safety board

Nov 4, 2020 | 12:48 PM

RICHMOND, B.C. — The Transportation Safety Board says a track failure contributed to the derailment of a freight train in northern British Columbia in January.

No one was hurt when 34 cars carrying wood pellets on the Canadian National Railway Co. train left the tracks between the communities of Smithers and Terrace. 

The board’s report on the incident says video and audio evidence from the train strongly suggests a sudden track failure occurred.

The report says testing on the same stretch of tracks in July and September 2019 showed the number of “deviations” in the width between the tracks had increased along that section. 

The agency says the weight and number of railcars travelling on the route sped up the deterioration of the track before the derailment.

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The agency noted that was the third such derailment in the area after 27 coal cars derailed in January 2018 and 52 empty cars derailed in December 2017.

Companies in this story: (TSX: CNR) 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2020.

The Canadian Press