(The Canadian Press)

By The Canadian Press

February 2019

TSB says brake failure, cold weather led to deadly train derailment near Field, B.C.

Mar 31, 2022 | 11:58 AM

CALGARY, AB – An investigation into a fatal train derailment near the British Columbia-Alberta boundary has found the locomotive’s brakes failed with prolonged exposure to cold temperatures.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has released its findings into the February 2019 derailment that killed three Canadian Pacific Railway employees.

The train was parked on a grade near Field, B.C., when it started rolling on its own, gaining speed, and 99 grain cars and two locomotives plummeted off a bridge.

Findings show an inbound train engineer had warned the trainmaster of brake system irregularities, but they were not seen as problematic.

The safety board says the trainmaster’s training and experience did not adequately prepare him to evaluate the circumstances or to make decisions.

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It says brake cylinders on the freight cars were leaking compressed air and, worsened by their age and condition and extreme cold, reached a critical threshold before the brakes gave out.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2022.

(The Canadian Press)