Editor’s note: The section of this article which details a Teamsters union representative’s account of a close call near Field, B.C., on Monday morning initially said the incident occurred Wednesday night. The article has been corrected to say the incident occurred on Monday. However, the TSB is still investigating an “occurrence” near Field that reportedly took place on Wednesday night but details about that incident have not been disclosed. We regret the error.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating following a train derailment between Banff, Alta., and Field, B.C., on Thursday.
The government agency said no injuries were reported.
The TSB said it was notified of the incident by Canadian Pacific Railway at 8:20 p.m. Chris Krepski, a spokesperson for the government agency, told Global News that 20 cars derailed on Mile 87 at the Laggan Subdivision.
According to initial reports, 10 of the cars that derailed were empty while the other 10 cars were loaded with grain, the TSB said. The agency confirmed no dangerous goods were involved.
The TSB said the site of the derailment was difficult to access and so it was gathering information remotely.
Typically, the railway involved is responsible for clearing the tracks and the accident site, the TSB said.
CP Rail issued a statement to Global News late Thursday night.
“At approximately 4:30 p.m. MT, a CP freight train derailed west of Banff,” the company said. “There were no injuries and there are no public safety concerns. CP immediately dispatched teams to the site.
“The cause of the incident is under investigation.”
A representative with the Teamsters union that represents some Canadian rail workers told Global News of another close call this week. They said it happened near Field on Monday morning. The union said a locomotive engineer had to use emergency brakes because the regular air brakes didn’t function properly.
Meanwhile, the TSB confirmed it was investigating an “occurrence” near Field on Wednesday night but did not elaborate.
Earlier this month, three CP Railway employees from Calgary were killed in major train derailment near Field. The rail line was closed following the incident but reopened on Feb. 6.
READ MORE: Rail line through Field, B.C. reopens after train derailment kills 3 workers
Watch below: (From Feb. 4, 2019) Three crew members of a Canadian Pacific Railway train were killed Monday after a derailment in Yoho National Park. Nancy Hixt reports.
A senior TSB investigator said the train had been stopped with air brakes applied at Partridge, the last station before the entrance to the Upper Spiral Tunnel, for about two hours when “the train began to move on its own.”
“A change-off between crews had occurred at this station as the previous crew was closing in on their maximum hours of service,” James Carmichael said at the time. “The ‘occurrence crew’ had just arrived and boarded the train but were not yet ready to depart.
“We’re going to try and determine why the brakes didn’t stay in place.”
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