Image: Michael Grenier

By Dylana Kneeshaw

DERAILMENT UPDATE

Rail operations resume after CPKC derailment near Cherry Creek; cause still under investigation

Nov 3, 2025 | 4:40 PM

KAMLOOPS — Rail traffic has begun to flow again after a section of a CPKC train went off the rails Saturday night beside Kamloops Lake.

Seventeen cars came off the tracks, carrying fuel, gypsum and pulp products. CP crews, along with the Thompson Nicola Regional District, Interior Health and the Ministry of Environment, have all been working on the cleanup process and gauging what sort of damage was caused. Nobody was hurt in the incident and the cause of the derailment is under investigation.

Barbara Roden, chair of the Thompson Nicola Regional District board, says the district hasn’t been told why the cars left the tracks yet.

“It happened at about 7:00 on Saturday night, that’s all we know right now,” Roden told CFJC Monday afternoon (Nov. 3). “Obviously dark, very close to the lake, it’s a very curvy section and there are numerous tunnels along there.”

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CPKC was contacted for comment and explained in an email that track repairs and safety inspections were completed. Crews were still on site Monday alongside the Ministry of Environment for the cleanup.

“They’re continuing to do monitoring in Kamloops Lake — not just for the fuel that spilled, but the gypsum, the powdered gypsum that might have gotten into the lake,” notes Roden.

In the meantime, spill containment booms will stay in Kamloops Lake for the duration of the cleanup.

“I understand this morning… the car that was leaking has been sealed,” explained TNRD Area ‘J’ Director Mike Grenier. “And I know they’re taking steps to pump all the cars out and to clean up the water and any spill in the water.”

CPKC also says initial surface-water sampling was done on Sunday and, so far, the TNRD hasn’t been told of any significant concerns around resident health or environmental impact.

“Of course, if there is even the faintest hint that anything is amiss, we will be notifying all of the customers of the Savona water system and presumably other water operators have means in place to contact their customers and let them know,” adds Roden.

The rest of the cleanup and water monitoring will have to wrap up before ruling out any other problems but, for now, trains have begun moving again.

“Well, the line, from an operational railway perspective is open,” noted Grenier. “But the cleanup, as you can see, is still required and whatever remediation goes with that, we’ll learn as the week progresses.”