Reuters — Twenty-four grain cars on a Canadian National Railway (CN) train derailed northeast of Calgary on Friday morning without injury or dangerous goods involved, RCMP said.
The derailment on the 104-car train took place near the village of Kathyrn and Highway 9, at 10 a.m. MT, RCMP from nearby Beiseker said in a release, noting no injuries, no effect on highway traffic and “no hazardous materials in any of the (derailed) cars.”
CN crews were responding and will investigate the incident, company spokesman Patrick Waldron said. The federal Transportation Safety Board said Friday it will also investigate.
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CN said Friday the derailment is now obstructing rail traffic between Calgary and Edmonton on the Three Hills subdivision of its main line.
Shipments due to pass through the derailment area were expected to be delayed by about 24 hours while repairs are done at the site, the company said.
Separately on Friday, the Transportation Safety Board said it had launched an investigation into the death of a CN employee in a rail yard in Saskatoon, on Thursday night.
Saskatoon news media reported an ambulance had been called to CN’s Chappell rail yard on Thursday at about 10:30 p.m. CT.
CN has suffered a spate of accidents in recent months, including a derailment of two crude oil trains in the same area of northern Ontario within three weeks, raising the concern of government officials.
CN’s safety record deteriorated sharply in 2014, reversing years of improvements, as accidents in Canada blamed on poor track conditions hit their highest level in more than five years, a recent Reuters analysis found.
— Reporting for Reuters by Susan Taylor in Toronto. Includes files from AGCanada.com Network staff.
