The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) says a runaway railcar that rolled toward downtown Regina last March was left unattended with inadequate brakes.
On March 2, 2016 the railcar, which was being loaded with asphalt at the Co-op Refinery Complex, rolled away and travelled 4.3 kilometres through the city. It reached a speed of 30 km/h and went over seven public crossings and a railway interlocking.
The railcar was handled by Cando Rail Services, a private sub-contractor of the Co-op Refinery Complex. The railcar was travelling on a line owned by CN.
READ MORE: Runaway rail car full of asphalt rolls toward downtown Regina from Co-op refinery
According to the TSB, the crew left the tank car unattended and secured only the emergency brakes. The brakes slowly lost pressure until they released, which allowed the car to roll away.
The report, which was released on March 21, said hand brakes had not been applied nor had the crew performed tests to check their effectiveness.
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There was no emergency radio broadcast when the tank rolled away and while the crew attempted to catch the runaway car with their locomotive, they were unable to do so without breaking the rules of their operating limits in the city.
Following the incident, the TSB said Cando Rail Services has taken a number of measures to increase the safety of its operations. This includes a system-wide notice that all equipment must have the minimum number of hand brakes at the time.
The runaway car did not derail and no one was hurt.
In 2013, more than 40 people died in an explosion and a fire when a 74-car runaway train carrying crude oil rolled down a grade and derailed in downtown Lac-Mégantic, Que.
The TSB report says most uncontrolled railway movements in Canada are directly related to securement issues.
After the Lac-Mégantic explosion, the TSB recommended Transport Canada require Canadian railways to put “additional physical defences” in place to prevent runaway equipment.
Transport Canada did revise the rules around train securement, but the TSB said the number of runaway equipment occurrences due to inadequate train securement has increased from 21 in 2014 to 33 in 2015. There were 27 occurrences in 2016.
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