SARINA — Despite assertions from a railway official that rail traffic is safer than ever, two more trains leapt from their tracks Saturday in Sarnia, the Observer reported.
That brings the total number of train derailments in the city involving Canadian National Railway cars to five in the past two months. Yet the community is safe, says CN public affairs spokesperson Ian Thompson.
“Incidents in the railyard and derailments are actually down from last year,” he said, even when you factor in Saturday’s mishaps.
It was around 10:15 a.m. when a yard engine and a slave unit car jumped the track near the waterfront, just south of Ferry Dock Hill.
The accident occurred when one of the lead engine’s wheels dislocated, sending it digging into the gravel embankment where it remained, leaning to one side, until railworkers managed to put the cars back on the track by late afternoon.
Just 15 minutes later, a set of yard engines were making their way through the CN railyard in the city’s south end when the rear unit jumped the tracks.
Despite the fact no one was injured during the mishaps, Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said something is dangerously amiss at Canada’s second largest railyard and he is renewing his plea to federal transport minister David Collenette for a review of CN train operations locally.
“There is something seriously wrong here,” Bradley said. “These (waterfront) tracks are, at best, used 70 to 80 times a year and at a very minimal speed.
“When (CN) can’t seem to do the basics how can we, as a public, expect them to handle the tracks that run more frequently from Sarnia to London?”
These latest incidents, while not serious, do bring to light some urgent issues that need to be addressed, Bradley continued, especially considering there is a lot of pedestrian traffic along the waterfront.
Saturday’s waterfront derailment comes less than three weeks after an incident that closed down a portion of Front Street to traffic for hours.
Prior to that, four tank cars carrying flammable liquid derailed in the CN railyard on Sept. 24, just two days after a 20-car train left the track in the same yard, causing the entire train to topple over onto its side.
“They have had a remarkably unlucky streak of bad luck,” Bradley said. “I find the planning going into CN rail issues to be very backward.”
However, Thompson said it is in CN’s best interest to operate a safe railroad and said he finds it irresponsible for Bradley to verbally attack the company considering he has continually turned down a CN invitation to meet with them and walk the lines.
Bradley said he is waiting to hear back on a request he made to Collenette for a meeting before he meets with CN officials.
As a result of Saturday’s events Bradley will reiterate that request in writing to Collenette, where he will once again express concerns over CN’s safety record.
“All I have to do is change some dates on the last letter,” he said.
Bradley said he is also eagerly anticipating the results of an audit that was conducted by transportation department officials of the Sarnia railyard last month.
As a result of recent events, CN has developed a comprehensive safety action plan for Sarnia and submitted it to the department for review.
Officials have yet to disclose their findings.