Bramalea train derailment

(Update)

Four empty train cars, used to carry jet fuel, jumped the tracks Monday morning, derailing the commute for GO train passengers from Kitchener, Guelph, Georgetown and Brampton. Crews have been working all day to get things cleared up and back on track. Our Elise Copps has the details.

Just about 12 hours ago, four cars on the back of a freight train derailed right here beside me. It all happened as the train went under this underpassat Steeles Avenue, before arriving at the Bramalea GO station.

Everything, is now cleaned up. It’s amazing how quickly they got the job done. At about 5:30, the first GO train came back through. We just saw another train go through these tracks, so they are good to go.

They had to upright four of these cars from the back of a 73 car train, all of them empty. They picked them up using cranes, readjusted the wheels, put them back on the rails and carted them off with a truck, The whole process probably could have been a lot more complicated but because they were empty, it went very smoothly. CN Spokesperson Lindsay Fedchyshyn said: “They had contained jet fuel previously, no environmental concerns or exposures. We have our senior dangerous goods officer on scene. But we have no concerns about the type of product that was in them or any concerns to the public.”

So luckily, with the cars being empty, the clean up was quite quick, and it’s allowed for a very smooth evening commute. It was a different story this morning. That left about 10,000 commuters who use this Kitchener line running late or having to use a different way to work. But tonight, everything is running on time. All that’s left of the derailment is that you can see a few marks in the concrete where the cars etched into the stone. However, everything is up and running and CN is investigating the cause of the derailment. They say it could take some time before they find out exactly why these last four cars left the tracks.