BC Rail Tragedy and Other Train
Derailments
Canadian
Pacific's
Reckless Move
Train derailment in Calgary, March 9, 2019.
Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) announced on March 8
an
appeal of Transport Canada's Ministerial Order requiring the
application of handbrakes to secure a train when stopped on a
mountain
grade. According to CP, the Railway Association of Canada and
Canadian
National (CN) are also appealing the Ministerial Order issued on
February 8, in the wake of the
tragedy that occurred 4 days earlier.
The disaster in question took the lives of
conductor
Dylan Paradis, engineer Andrew Dockrell and trainee Daniel
Waldenberger-Bulmer. Their 112-car CP grain train sped out of
control
down a track in the Rocky Mountains and derailed. The train had
been
stopped on a mountain grade for two hours to address mechanical
issues
including
problems controlling the speed of the train. During the stop,
emergency
brakes were applied. The train began to move and accelerated to a
speed
in excess of the maximum track speed and derailed.
The Transportation Safety Board investigation
found
that no handbrakes had been applied. Transport Canada's February
8
Ministerial Order requires operators of trains halted in an
emergency
stop on a mountain grade to apply a sufficient number of
handbrakes to
prevent the train from moving.
Railway workers have long demanded more be done
to
secure trains and protect their lives and those of the public.
They
support the Ministerial Order regarding the application of
handbrakes.
They see this move as part of their fight to get to the heart of
the
problem of recurring accidents. This includes a public
investigation of
the
phenomenon of trains speeding out of control. They call for the
establishment of a public authority that enforces rail safety in
which
workers who have direct knowledge and experience of the industry
have a
say and control.
CP, in an uncouth and arrogant manner, announced
an
appeal of the Ministerial Order under the guise that the
application of
handbrakes will introduce "additional risks" and "unintended
consequences." CP advocates "safer options" yet remains silent on
those
options or what the additional risks and unintended consequences
might
be when
handbrakes are used.
Railway workers surmise that CP may be referring
to the
potential risks for conductors in moving along the train in an
unfavorable environment in order to apply handbrakes. They say
such
dangers, although real, cannot be compared with those of a train
speeding out of control after starting to roll on its own.
In an article dated March 1, the Globe and
Mail
reports Transport Canada held a briefing with the industry and
unions
at the end of February during which CP spoke on the need for
safety
measures that do not hamper operations by delaying traffic.
According
to the Globe article, CP
allegedly does not want time consuming
measures
such as applying hand brakes. It wants to keep the trains moving
with
minimum delays.
This has always been the pragmatic bottom line
and aim
of the rail companies to secure increased private profit
regardless of
the consequences for workers and communities along rail lines.
With
private profit as the aim and driving force of the industry, the
railway companies have long pushed self-regulation in concert
with
compliant
governments. This pragmatism for private profit has been shown in
practice to be a disaster for the safety of workers and the
public.
Train derailments keep happening and are actually on the rise
across
Canada. Railway workers and their allies across Canada are firmly
opposed to the unacceptable anti-social direction of
self-regulation of
the
industry and demand an alternative that favours the people. The
application of handbrakes on slopes is one measure in this
regard.
Train derailment, Carlos, Minnesota, March 1, 2019.
This article was published in
Number 9 - March 14, 2019
Article Link:
BC Rail Tragedy and Other Train
Derailments: Canadian
Pacific's
Reckless Move
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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