Derailed train’s brakes cleared by faulty tests, federal inspectors say
Brake tests that gave the green light to a CP Rail freight train that derailed and killed three Calgarians last year near Field, B.C., were deficient, say federal inspectors.
Research on the safety of train brake tests in cold conditions begun in 2015 provided preliminary results a year later indicating concerns with the existing system, states a Transportation Safety Board (TSB) rail safety advisory produced last month.
Further assessments confirmed those concerns, it said.
“The ATBE test results and the hazard notifications of train braking anomalies on Field Hill both suggest that the No. 1 brake test does not reliably identify ineffective brakes in rail cars,” states the advisory. “Given this information, Transport Canada is advised that an alternate approach to determining the effectiveness of freight car air brakes is required to ensure that departing trains have sufficient effective brakes to operate safely.”
The document inquires about Transport Canada’s stance on the issue “and what action, if any, will be taken in this regard.”
The report also says crews on the line had made multiple warnings to CP Rail about concerns over brake safety on various trains prior to the derailment. Train 301349 careened out of control and derailed on the steep grade of the Spiral Tunnels just east of Field on Feb. 4, 2019.
Conductor Dylan Paradis, engineer Andrew Dockrell and trainee Daniel Waldenberger-bulmer died in the derailment.
“A review of CP’S Health and Safety Committee hazard notifications submitted prior to the accident revealed multiple instances where train crews operating loaded unit grain trains westward descending Field Hill in winter operating conditions experienced difficulty controlling train speed,” says the advisory.
“These hazard notifications document air brake performance issues on unit grain trains that had successfully passed a No. 1 brake test.”
The crew of the westbound train had raised the alarm about the functioning of the train’s brakes when it came to a stop above the Spiral Tunnel and before a change of personnel.
Shortly after that, emergency brakes on the 112-car, three-engine train released without warning and it cars accelerated down the steep track.
“Train 301-349 received and passed a No. 1 brake test on 3 February 2019 before departing Alyth Yard in Calgary,” said the TSB.
“The test, performed by qualified employees on a stationary train, verifies that the train air brake system is working as intended before the train departs.”
Cold temperatures are known to impair the function of train air brakes.
Shortly after the deadly derailment, Transport Canada Minister Marc Garneau issued a ministerial order for all railway companies to use hand brakes when trains are halted in an emergency stop on a mountain grade.
The Teamsters Canada Railway Conference, which represented the three dead workers, has said several other derailments or near-disasters involving CP trains followed the tragedy, including one in March 2019 on the same Spiral Tunnels stretch that forced the use of emergency brakes.
The TSB said that in 2015, Transport Canada, the National Research Council and CP Rail began evaluating the current No. 1 brake tests against an Automated Train Brake Effectiveness (ATBE) program, to see if the latter could be an alternative or additional measure.
In the study, the ATBE identified 695 cars from 44 grain trains with defective brakes, while the No. 1 test found only five.
In a random sampling of 14 cars flagged by the ATBE, a subsequent assessment found all of them to have defective brakes that required repairs, states the TSB.
The study results have been sent to CP Rail and Transport Canada, said TSB spokesman Alexandre Fournier
“The TSB does not wait for the completion of its investigations to communicate about safety deficiencies when we believe urgent action is required,” Fournier said in an email. “The TSB gathered this information as part of our ongoing investigation.”
That investigation might not be completed until early 2021, the TSB has said.
Postmedia is still awaiting responses to its questions from Transport Canada, CP Rail and the Teamsters Canada Railway Conference.