FABYAN — More than a dozen rail cars are lying wrecked on a valley floor after plunging off a bridge in northern Alberta, east of Edmonton.
CN spokesperson Julie Senecal says the cars were all carrying grain and were part of a train that was heading west from Winnipeg to Edmonton on Saturday afternoon.
Senecal says 31 cars left the tracks about 30 kilometres from Wainwright near the community of Fabyan, and that 17 fell off the bridge.
No one was injured, and Senecal says there is no environmental threat.
According to the town of Wainwright’s website, the bridge is almost 60 metres high and 845 metres long.
George Duffy, who lives near the bridge, says the cars that fell are so badly damaged that they’re barely recognizable.
Senecal says the cause of the derailment is still under investigation.
She says CN is re-routing traffic to a line further north.
It’s the third train to derail in Alberta in a week.
On Friday, 18 cars went off the tracks near Hay Lakes, southeast of Edmonton.
Earlier last week, a CN freight train derailed between Hinton and Grande Cache.
There were no injuries in the Hay Lakes derailment but one crew member was hurt in the Hinton derailment.