29 September 2010

CPR Train Derails in Wetaskiwin

Wetaskiwin Alberta - Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) is still investigating what caused four rail cars to leave the track 28 Sep 2010 in Wetaskiwin.
 
The cars slipped off the rail around 3:45 p.m. at the crossing of 50 Street and Northmount Drive.
 
The cars were just off the track and leaning, but none of them fell over. CPR spokesman Kevin Hyrsak said none of the cars were compromised and none were carrying anything that would pose a danger to the public.
 
"Two of them were loaded grain cars, one was a car of (railway) ties, and one was a loaded steel car," he said.
 
"So no dangerous commodities, no environmental impact, no threat to the community, that sort of thing."
 
After the cars derailed, Hyrsak said crews responded to clear the remaining train, and cars from the crossing and away from the derailed cars.
 
"They do that and then they want to clear the crossing. And, once they do that and get the other stuff out of the way you can focus on recovery," he said of the process.
 
He said it could take a day to get the derailed cars removed from the track, but doesn't expect that to affect rail traffic through Wetaskiwin.
 
"Customer traffic will resume as normal, we might just have to plan our meets a little more efficiently and not make meets in Wetaskiwin and use other locations," said Hysak.
 
As for the cause, Hyrsak couldn't speculate on what happened.
 
"That is currently under investigation still, so we won't have any information on that for a little bit," he said.
 
"We cooperate with all agencies on the investigation, unfortunately it can take some time to determine the results."
 
Vince Burke.