Derail switch installed to protect LRT from trains

WATERLOO — A derail switch has been installed in uptown Waterloo along a stretch of the Ion line shared with freight trains to safely stop an oversized car before it reaches light rail infrastructure.

The derail switch installed by GrandLinq as part of the Ion system is part of a "multi-step" safety system to prevent a serious crash in the unlikely event a freight train that is too big gets onto the joint use section of the Spur Line through Waterloo, where there will be light rail platforms and overhead wires on poles.

One was installed on the south end of the stretch behind Willow Street, and another will be on the north end at Northfield Drive.

“It basically pops the wheels off the track onto the ballast,” said Steve van De Keere, transportation director for the Region of Waterloo. “It will slow the train down to a stop very quickly within a few metres.”

That section of track from King Street to Northfield is owned by the region and CN looks after maintenance of the track and track bed, while the region looks after safety of the rail operations.

The switch is not related to the train derailment at that spot on the track by Willow Street in 2012, van De Keere said. A train carrying hazardous chemicals went off the tracks, but no chemicals were spilled.

He said the public should not be concerned about the switch.

“It doesn’t create an increase in risk.”

Derail switches are commonly used across North America as a safety measure, primarily to protect workers on the track. In this case, it would be to protect against an oversized train colliding with an Ion platform, station or catenary system, which would cause extensive damage to that light rail infrastructure or worse.

“The train could have an unplanned derailment and there could be a lot more damage to persons and property,” van De Keere said.

The derail switch is the last fail-safe to stop that from happening.

CN/Goderich-Exeter Railway is required when assembling trains to not exceed size maximums for CN’s clearance “envelope.”

Then there’s a “high and wide” detector ahead of the derail switch that remotely measures a train’s dimensions.

If a train is flagged as too high or wide, then a signal down the track will turn red to tell the operator to stop the train. Once stopped there, the oversized car would need to be addressed before the train could proceed.

If the operator fails to respond to the red, the derail switch is activated.

“It derails the train, I would say, gently,” van De Keere said.

A video on the manufacturer’s website shows a train reaching the switch and the wheels going off the track and onto the rocks of the track bed. It slows very quickly while all cars remain upright. A special crane would be needed to put the train back on the track.

“Basically the wheels just sink into the ballast,” van De Keere said.

Longtime Willow Street resident Stephen Harding was concerned when he noticed the derail switch being installed behind his street, as were neighbours considering the derailment at that spot five years ago.

He said residents were not informed about the reason for its installation along the line, leaving them to speculate and worry.

“My concern is a derail switch is meant to move a train off the tracks,” Harding said. “These are tankers and they’re carrying chemicals that we for some reason are not allowed to know what they are.”

City officials weren’t notified by GoderichExeter Railway when the train carrying hazardous chemicals went off the tracks in October 2012. No chemicals were spilled.

The following summer, the councils of Kitchener and Waterloo each passed a motion requesting that railways transporting cargo through the cities tell local fire chiefs what dangerous goods are on board.

Local trains often carry chemicals for industry in Elmira.

In late 2013, the federal government announced rail companies must tell cities when dangerous goods are transported through the community. That followed the deadly July 6 derailment and explosion in Lac-Mégantic, which killed dozens of people and decimated the Quebec town’s centre.

Harding questions why these trains need to travel through the city’s core at all, and what would happen if the derail switch was used to stop one.

Van De Keere said the chances of that happening are “extremely low.” And without the derail switch, the crash of an oversized train could be “very, very serious.”

Ion and freight trains will use the same track along that stretch, but not at the same time. Freight trains will come through at night after the Ion stops running for the day.