Heavy rain, high water caused washout that led to fatal 2018 derailment, TSB says
Conductor who died and engineer were trapped for hours in wrecked locomotive
A summer of heavy precipitation and high water levels in northern Manitoba is being blamed for a washout that led to a fatal train derailment in September 2018.
The high water levels created pressure against the raised bed of the track and it finally gave out near Ponton, about 545 kilometres north of Winnipeg, says a Transportation Safety Board report released Thursday.
The crash on Sept. 15 killed Kevin Anderson, 38, the train conductor. A 59-year-old engineer was seriously injured.
Their Hudson Bay Railway freight train was moving at 40 km/h when it encountered the washout, the TSB report says.
The rails and ties were in place but were unsupported, hanging over an empty space 15 metres long and almost five metres deep. The train went onto the unsupported section and it collapsed under the weight.
Three locomotives and the first four cars derailed. All three locomotives were destroyed.
Anderson and his engineer were trapped in the cab of the head-end locomotive for hours, the TSB report says. Anderson died from his injuries, while still trapped, 8½ hours later. The engineer was extricated nearly 10 hours after the crash and airlifted in critical condition to a hospital in Thompson.
An autopsy report on Anderson later said he bled to death after suffering "serious but survivable injuries."
The TSB investigation found the tracks had been inspected recently and water was flowing through the culverts at that time, but pooling and pressure from the water levels occurred after that.
The sudden high level could might have been caused by a breached beaver dam, the report says. The HBR's beaver control program had been cut back, leaving the track infrastructure vulnerable to a washout, the agency said.
The investigation also identified gaps in HBR's emergency response plan, which "had not been reviewed by the regulator and did not set forth any processes or procedures for responding to a train derailment, particularly one that involved dangerous goods and employee injuries/fatalities, occurring in a remote location."
The wrecked locomotive fuel tanks released about 6,800 litres of diesel fuel, the TSB said.
The remote location and difficult terrain in the area delayed access to the site, while the fuel release and potential of a liquefied petroleum gas release — and need for a hazardous material assessment — contributed to extending the time required for the emergency response.
Since the crash, the HBR has inspected all culverts and instituted a comprehensive beaver control program, the report says.
The company also has updated its security and emergency response plans as well as its safety management system. It has improved its communications policy, which now requires crews to check in with the rail traffic controller every hour when operating in what is known as a remote, or dark, territory.