CANADIAN PACIFIC TRAIN DERAILMENT IN FIELD, BC
- Transport Canada thanks the Transportation Safety Board of Canada for its report on the Field, British Columbia, derailment.
- As stated in our official response, Transport Canada agrees with all the findings of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s report and is committed to addressing its recommendations to further strengthen rail safety.
- Following the derailment, Transport Canada put in place immediate safety measures, including handbrake requirements on mountain grades, and strengthened train brake inspection and safety rules.
SUPPLEMENTARY MESSAGES
- Transport Canada has a strong path forward to address the three TSB recommendations, including a review of the Safety Management Systems Regulations, to ensure their effectiveness.
- Transport Canada has already taken meaningful actions by introducing stronger rules for the inspection, testing, and maintenance of brakes, especially in cold weather.
- Transport Canada continues to engage with industry to advance rail safety issues and support the introduction of new technologies.
SUPPORTING FACTS AND FIGURES
- Following the derailment, Transport Canada established immediate safety measures, including handbrake requirements on mountain grades.
- In April 2020, Transport Canada made these measures permanent by approving changes to the Canadian Rail Operating Rules, to help ensure that effective safety procedures are applied to all trains that come to emergency stops on steep grades.
- On March 31, 2022, the Transport Safety Board of Canada concluded its investigation of the 2019 derailment near Field, British Columbia, and issued its final report.
- The TSB report on this accident resulted in three recommendations being directed at Transport Canada.
- Transport Canada responded to the TSB recommendations on June 15, 2022.
BACKGROUND
On February 4, 2019, a CP grain train derailed near Field, British Columbia, resulting in three fatalities. The 114-car train was stopped on Field Hill with air brakes applied (but no handbrakes) for almost three hours at -28 C when the train began to move uncontrolled due to excessive leakage from the air brakes. Three crew members, a locomotive engineer, a conductor, and a conductor trainee were fatally injured.
The TSB report, published in March 2022, concluded that:
- The air brake system was compromised by the excessive stoppage time, the condition of the brakes, the extreme cold weather, and lack of physical defences (i.e., automatic parking brakes);
- CP’s crew had insufficient training to recognize the risk of uncontrolled movements; and
- CP’s safety management system was ineffective in following-up on employee hazard reports.
As a result, the Report included three recommendations to Transport Canada:
- Recommendation R22-01: Department of Transport establish enhanced test standards and time-based maintenance requirements for brake cylinders on freight cars operating on steep descending grades in cold ambient temperatures.
- Recommendation R22-05: Department of Transport require Canadian freight railways to develop and implement a schedule for the installation of automatic parking brakes on freight cars, prioritizing the retrofit of cars used in bulk commodity unit trains in mountain grade territory.
- Recommendation R22-03: Department of Transport require Canadian Pacific Railway Company to demonstrate that its safety management system can effectively identify hazards arising from operations using all available information, including employee hazard reports and data trends; assess the associated risks; and implement mitigation measures and validate that they are effective.