The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) said track maintenance issues may have been the reason behind two Canadian Pacific (CP) Rail derailments in central Saskatchewan separated by 10 kilometres.
The board sent two letters to Transport Canada in March regarding rail safety following the December 2019 and February 2020 derailments near Guersey.
One letter advised the federal government that the TSB has been deployed to 7 derailments involving crude oil since 2015 and that in those cases, “the derailments occurred as a result of a broken rail, broken joint bars or other track infrastructure condition.”
“While both investigations are ongoing, in both cases, the suspected cause appears to be related to a broken rail,” the letter read.
The TSB said track safety requirements haven’t been updated since May 2012.
“There’s certainly gaps that exist in there and the industry has changed over the last number of years in terms of how they manage their infrastructure. It’s time to look at some of those elements and make sure they’re improved and tightened,” central regional operations manager Rob Johnston said.
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The second letter spoke to adjusting train speeds based on what it’s carrying and its location.
It said in the February derailment, the CP train was using DOT 117J100-W tank cars, which are the best tank cars on the market for transporting oil by rail.
“Despite using the best tank cars available to transport petroleum crude oil, about 27 of the tank cars released an estimated 1.6 million litres of product. This suggests that the recent tank car design improvements alone are insufficient to fully mitigate the risk of adverse consequences resulting from derailments involving (dangerous goods), particularly at this speed,” the advisory read.
Transport Canada responded to both of these letters from the TSB by putting ministerial orders into place on April 3.
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2nd derailment in two months near Guernsey, Sask. raises maintenance questions -
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To address track safety requirements, Transport Canada has invited the industry to work with the federal government to update the requirements.
There are three phases to those discussions, with the final phase expected to be complete by April 2022.
Transport Canada also implemented speed limits for trains based on whether it is carrying dangerous goods, if it’s travelling through a city or the country and whether it’s in a track-signalled area.
The two derailments spilled a combined 3.1 million litres of oil and resulted in day-long fires.
The February derailment forced the evacuation of around 85 people from their homes in Guernsey.
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