The Transportation Safety Board concludes that a CN freight train derailment on January 22nd of 2019 was caused by a broken rail on the track.
It derailed at Highway 11 just north of where it intersects with Wanuskewin Road.
The locomotive caught fire and the fuel tank was leaking.
The train was hauling grain.
A report from the TSB says the rail head was missing at a joint between 2 pieces of rail, leaving a gap in the rail surface, so as the train travelled over the gap, the impact from the wheels caused further damage and then it failed as the 27th car rolled over it.
Less than a month earlier the track was inspected ultrasonically and there was no crack.
The TSB also reports that a damaged segment of track had recently been repaired using rail manufactured in 1953.
It had been ultrasonically inspected before being placed in the track, but it didn’t have the strength of newer track and a bolt hole crack developed, resulting in the broken rail.
The TSB also determined that although the CN track information system recorded details of the repairs made, it didn’t provide enough detail to assess the work at individual joints where short pieces of rail were installed close together.