Quebec train derailment linked to temperature swings
Quebec train derailment report points to rail break from temperature swings and wheel defect See why 29 cars left the tracks and how no injuries or major spill were avoided
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says a freight train derailment in northern Quebec last December was likely caused by a rail breaking under stress from sharp temperature swings, combined with the earlier passage of another train with a wheel defect.
The incident happened on Dec. 28, about 60 kilometres north of SeptÎles on Quebec’s North Shore. The train was carrying iron ore and had its emergency brake activated before it derailed.
According to the report, 29 railcars and one locomotive left the tracks, but no one was injured. Most of the spilled iron ore did not reach the frozen surface of the nearby Nipissis River, and the line had been inspected three days earlier without any defects found.