A defective car component forced 16 cars on a 96-car Canadian Pacific Railway freight train to jump the tracks north of Innisfail more than a year ago, an internal investigation has shown.
Kevin Hrysak, a Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. spokesman, said the year-long probe into the derailment was completed recently.
He said inspection procedures have been reviewed and measures have since been put in place to prevent the reoccurrence, including investment into wayside inspection devices.
“It’s definitely not a regular occurrence,” said Hrysak. “Definitely we can learn from it, which we have, and put measures in place.”
The 16 cars left the rails near the Niobe grain elevator around 5:20 a.m. on Jan. 18. Five cars contained anhydrous ammonia.
The cars were about 20 back from the locomotive.
The derailment forced the closure of Hwy 2A for several hours. The highway is only a few metres from the rail line at the accident site.
No residents were evacuated and those living nearby were able to get back to their homes.
There were no injuries on board or any risk to public safety.