CALGARY, June 3, 2013 /CNW/ - Canadian Pacific Railway
(TSX: CP) (NYSE: CP) today released information from the company's
preliminary investigation relating to the Wanup, Ontario derailment 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 am EDT on
Sunday, June 2 a northbound freight
train derailed east of Sudbury
near Wanup, Ontario.
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
rail cars experienced a sudden and unexpected wheel bearing failure
which caused the rail car 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 today 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 rail car'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 to 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.
SOURCE Canadian Pacific