Outdated braking technology is partially to blame for a 2006 CN train derailment that killed two people in B.C.'s Fraser Canyon, according to a report released by the Transportation Safety Board Thursday.
Crew members Don Faulkner, 59, and 55-year-old Tommy Dodd were killed, and engineer Gordon Rhodes seriously injured, when a locomotive and flatcar came off the tracks while negotiating the steep terrain of a mountain pass near Lillooet, sending the cars nearly 300 metres down an embankment.
In the report, the TSB said the three men did everything they could to slow the locomotive but the machine's 35-year-old braking system was not strong enough to control the train's descent as it headed down an incline toward a corner.
The report says so-called "dynamic brakes" would have easily slowed the train which reached speeds of nearly 90 kilometres an hour when it should have been travelling no faster than 30 to 40 kilometres per hour.
The TSB ruled no risk assessment was done beforehand by CN to "identify potential operational hazards in this challenging physical environment."
Related: Read the entire TSB report
The investigation found that assessments required by the Canadian National's safety management system (SMS) were not followed by CN on multiple occasions.
"Safety management systems are the right way to go," Wendy Tadros, Chair of the TSB, wrote.
"However, to make them work, there needs to be a firm and consistent commitment from the rail industry and the regulator," she added.
The board is urging Transport Canada to require CN to "effect action to identify and mitigate risks" on all of its trains.
"These accidents strongly suggest that CN's overall safety management practices do not ensure safe train operations on its network before operational changes are implemented," the report said.
It board also voiced concerns about brake shoe standards on modern trains.
"To make the rail system safer, we are calling for modern brake shoe standards for today's heavier cars," said Mrs. Tadros.
Fraser Nicola New Democrat MLA Harry Lali, who was briefed on the TSB report ahead of its release, said he believed the findings should cost some senior managers their jobs.
Kelli Svendsen of CN public affairs said the company will not be commenting on any specifics of the Lillooet incident as the matter is before the courts.
Meanwhile, Svendsen said CN's Safety Management System has been developed, refined, and continuously improved over the years since the SMS Regulations were developed for rail safety in Canada.
Risk assessment is an integral part of the CN safety program, and is part of the day-to-day operation of the railroad, Svendsen said
The end result, according to CN, has been a significant decline in all accidents at CN.
That includes a 31 per cent reduction in main track accidents from 2007 to 2009 (year to date) and a 24% reduction in non-main track accidents in the same time period.
With files from The Canadian Press
