Engineers with CP Rail check the brakes on a locomotive - Date unknown Gino Donato.

26 July 2013

Nineteen CP Trains Failed Safety Tests

Calgary Alberta - Nineteen Canadian Pacific trains failed internal compliance tests in Ontario, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, QMI Agency has learned.
 
The Calgary-based rail giant admitted to the failures in a memorandum dated Tuesday.
 
The tests were conducted after another company's crude-oil train derailed and exploded in Lake Megantic on 6 Jul 2013, killing 47 people.
 
In all, CP carried out 322 tests on 70 trains this month in Brooks Alberta, Mactier Ontario, as well as three communities in Saskatchewan, Maple Creek, Sutherland, and Swift Current.
 
The CP memo refers to a 5.9 percent failure rate. One of the failures was hand brakes that didn't meet company standards.
 
CP announced last week that it will impose tougher rules on setting the brakes that hold a stationary train in place.
 
Freight train safety has been a major concern in Canada and the US since a runaway train crashed and exploded in Lake Megantic, incinerating a large section of downtown.
 
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has said there weren't enough brakes applied on the Montreal Maine & Atlantic Railway train when it was parked 12 kilometres away in the town of Nantes.
 
CP's internal memorandum says some of its trains fell short on braking checks as well as tests that assessed radio communication between crews.
 
The memorandum was sent to CP engineers, mechanics, and switching co-ordinators.
 
CP spokeswoman Breanne Feigel told QMI Agency that internal checks are routine.
 
"We do checks every day," she said. "The company does even more than what Transport Canada regulations require."
 
Staff that don't respect safety rules are docked points, which Feigel says is a common industry practice.
 
Michel Morin.

Vancouver Island
British Columbia
Canada