Report slams Omnitrax in fatal derailment By: Kevin Rollason Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Thursday, Apr. 23, 2020 Last Modified: 6:38 PM CDT Thursday, Apr. 23, 2020 Updates

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/04/2020 (1611 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Hudson Bay Railway derailment south of Thompson which resulted in the death of a conductor occurred after the track was washed out because of high water levels due to heavy rain.

But the 44-page report released by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada on Thursday also condemned the railroad’s former owner, Omnitrax, saying that in the months before the derailment, while the company still owned it, “because the rail line was for sale, much of the other infrastructure maintenance was being deferred.

“In general, HBR, under Omnitrax, performed only a minimum amount of maintenance to keep the remaining portion of the rail line open while remaining in regulatory compliance. With a reduced engineering force, the track infrastructure began to deteriorate.”

The TSB also found Omnitrax’s reduction of its beaver control program also left the track vulnerable to a washout, its emergency response plan didn’t include anything about responding to a train derailment, and the plan had never been reviewed by the regulator.

Kevin Anderson, the train’s 38-year-old conductor, died from internal bleeding on Sept. 16, 2018, after being trapped in the train’s engine car for more than eight hours. Another crew member, an engineer, was airlifted to hospital in critical condition two hours later.

Niki Ashton, NDP MP for Churchill-Keewatinook Aski, called the TSB’s report “a damning indictment of Omnitrax.

“It also really asks tough questions about deregulation and the lack of responsibility by the federal government… it is clear Omnitrax was negligent, but let’s not let the federal government off the hook.

“The question remaining is was the federal government doing its due diligence? I would argue we need more regulation.”

Christopher Monette, a spokesman for Teamsters Canada, said the union will have more to say about the report later.

“Shedding light on the circumstances surrounding the fatal Ponton derailment is essential to the ongoing healing process,” Monette said.

“Teamsters are currently reviewing the report and gathering feedback from front-line union representatives. Therefore, we are not able to comment on the TSB’s findings at this time.”

An emailed statement from Denver-based Omnitrax said “Omnitrax sold the Hudson Bay Railway prior to the Ponton incident and at the time of the sale the track was in good working condition.”

Murad al-Katib, a spokesman for Arctic Gateway, which took over the short-line railroad from Omnitrax shortly before the derailment, said the company has since put in place upgrades to its security and emergency response plans even before the TSB came out with its report.

“It was a terrible tragedy,” al-Katib said. “It was two weeks after we assumed acquisition of the asset.”

He said just days after the company took over the railroad on Sept. 1, 2018, it hired people who were beginning to remove beavers and beaver dams from near the rail line.

“It doesn’t erase the tragedy of what happened to Kevin Anderson. There’s not a day go by that we don’t think of him.”

Al-Katib said the engineer is continuing to recover from his injuries.

The report said the train left The Pas at about noon on Sept. 15, 2018, with three locomotives at the front and 25 railcars behind, with four carrying liquefied petroleum gas and four carrying gasoline.

When the train was 156 kilometres south of Thompson, near Ponton, and going 40 kilometres per hour at 4:32 p.m., the train crew saw “a void in the roadbed surface ahead at mile 99.58.”

“The rails appeared to be in place, so it was not immediately apparent that there was a significant washout… the train proceeded on to the unsupported section of track, the track collapsed, and the head end of the train struck the opposite side of the washout.”

The report said the locomotive folded into a 45-degree angle in the middle and pushed its main generator and electrical cabinet into the cab, pinning the two crew members inside.

About an hour later, a passing helicopter heading to pick up surveyors spotted the train derailment, but by the time emergency crews got to the site with the necessary equipment to extricate the pair, it was about midnight. While trying to get them out, the conductor died and the engineer wasn’t extricated until 2:30 a.m., about 10 hours after the derailment.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

TSB Wekusko derailment report

Kevin Rollason
Reporter

Kevin Rollason is one of the more versatile reporters at the Winnipeg Free Press. Whether it is covering city hall, the law courts, or general reporting, Rollason can be counted on to not only answer the 5 Ws — Who, What, When, Where and Why — but to do it in an interesting and accessible way for readers.

   Read full biography