Mr. Ed Greenberg reports
CANADIAN PACIFIC CLARIFIES CIRCUMSTANCES ON WANUP DERAILMENT
Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. has released information from the company's preliminary
investigation relating to the Wanup, Ont., derailment on Sunday, June 2,
2013.
Certain early media reporting about the incident is inaccurate.
Following are facts revealed through initial review of the incident.
At approximately 9:50 a.m. EDT on Sunday, June 2, 2013, a northbound freight
train derailed east of Sudbury near Wanup, Ont.
There were no injuries as a result of the incident. Environmental
experts were immediately deployed to the site and continue working
closely with community first responders.
The train was travelling over a rail trestle bridge spanning the
Wanapitei River at the time of the incident.
The preliminary CP investigation has identified that one of the railcars experienced a sudden and unexpected wheel-bearing failure, which
caused the railcar to derail just prior to the bridge. The derailed
car then struck the bridge, causing a larger derailment and further
infrastructure damage.
Twenty-four intermodal containers were involved in the incident, some
entering the river as a result of the derailment. Four currently
remain in the river. Crews are working to recover these last
containers.
CP has an extensive network of electronic wayside train inspection
systems. One of the primary types of detectors examines the
temperature of each railcar's wheels. This train passed by nine of
these detectors on its route toward Sudbury. Each of these detectors
showed that all wheels and bearings were operating at a normal and
acceptable temperature. There was no indication of any bearing
problems. The two detectors closest to the incident site were inspected
Sunday and verified to be working as intended.
This incident could be compared with a properly maintained and serviced
passenger vehicle that showed no dashboard alarm indicators prior to
experiencing a blown tire. In this same way, the incident at Wanup was
also undetectable.
CP crews and local responders are continuing work to remove the cars
from the river, assess the situation and determine the scope of
required repairs. Officials are also working on identifying the types
of consumer products within the containers involved in the derailment.
Preliminary inspection indicates there are no materials or products of
concern to the public or environment.
CP continues its investigation along with local authorities and the
Transportation Safety Board of Canada.
CP has detour routes available to continue with the transportation of
customers' shipments. Some delays will be temporarily incurred.
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