AIRDRIE — Transport Canada will review the operation of long trains across the country with an eye to reducing derailments.
The move comes after more than one-third of the units on a 101-car Canadian Pacific (TSX:CP) freight train left the tracks near Airdrie, Alta., in August 2010.
The train stretched almost two kilometres from front to rear. Some tank cars carrying anhydrous ammonia were involved, but there was no release of dangerous goods.
A Transportation Safety Board report doesn’t fault the train for being too long. It blames a piece of rail that failed under one of the locomotives.
The report says a revision to track safety rules is being proposed that would make changes to rail testing requirements.
CP spokesman Ed Greenberg says the company has already made several improvements since the derailment, including increased rail inspections and revised rail testing.
“We did not take this lightly,” Greenberg said Wednesday.
“All of this is part of a commitment to remain a safe railway and to take the necessary steps to try and avoid some situations like this one from happening again.”
The company’s safety program includes visual and electronic inspections for the 23,800 kilometres of track across the country on which it operates, he said.
Greenberg added the company will also be working with Transport Canada in its long trains review.
CP’s trains can range from 90 to 170 cars in length, he said.