17. Short note on HBR Railway Derailment

Short Note: September 2018 Hudson Bay Railway Derailment

In response to the tragic incident on the Hudson Bay Railway, the Transportation Safety Board conducted an investigation and Transport Canada conducted an occupational health and safety investigation.
As a result of our investigation, Transport Canada issued a Direction to Hudson Bay Railway to implement corrective actions, including improved emergency procedures to better protect employees and communities. We have followed-up on this Direction, and confirmed that Hudson Bay Railway has implemented all of these procedures.
Transport Canada continues to conduct oversight of this railway, including inspections of track, crossings, rail cars and locomotives, and train crew operations.

On September 15, 2018, a Hudson Bay Railway (HBR) freight train derailed near Ponton, Manitoba after encountering a washout. The crew was trapped in the lead locomotive and the conductor died of his injuries on site about 8.5 hours after the derailment.
On September 16, 2018, TC launched an investigation into the injuries sustained by the engineer and conductors under Canada Labour Code Part II (on behalf of the Minister of Labour) to determine whether any non-compliances were present and factors which contributed to the accident in order to prevent future similar occurrences.
On January 9, 2019, TC issued a Direction to HBR to implement corrective measures that would bring it into compliance with the CLC II. HBR complied with the Direction and subsequent follow-up by TC determined the company corrective measures to be sufficient.
The TSB released its investigation report into the occurrence on April 23, 2020. It noted that the occurrence’s remote location, difficult terrain, delays in notification of the Rail Traffic Controller and the need to conduct a hazmat assessment contributed to the extended length of time required following the accident to rescue the crew.
A Coroner’s inquiry has been approved to proceed in Manitoba – but has not yet commenced. The focus is expected to be emergency response.