File photo of a CN locomotive in Montreal.Graham Hughes
The Canadian National Railway Co.'s "inadequate" emergency communication system played a major role in a fatal 2009 train derailment in Illinois, U.S. officials say.
Some cars on a CN freight train, which was carrying thousands of litres of ethanol, burst into flames when they went off the tracks northwest of Chicago in June, 2009. A nearby motorist was killed and seven other people were injured.
An accident report from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, released on Tuesday, found that the derailment of the 19 train cars was likely caused by a washout on the tracks that had been discovered an hour earlier.
"The probable cause of the accident was the washout of the track structure that was discovered about one hour before the train's arrival and [CN's] failure to notify the train crew of the known washout in time to stop the train," the report states.
The report says other factors that contributed to the accident included CN's failure to work with the local county to develop a storm-water management system for handling washouts. CN also failed to issue a flash-flood warning to the train's crew, the report says.
CN spokesman Patrick Waldron told The Associated Press that the company has changed the way it handles emergency calls and warnings about the weather and is reviewing the recommendations in the U.S. report.
"Following this incident, CN instituted a number of changes at our dispatch centres to improve procedures involving weather warnings and emergency calls," Mr. Waldron said. "Those policy changes include steps where certain mandatory orders would be part of that process, which may include orders to stop a train."
The train had two locomotives and 114 cars, 19 of which derailed. In addition to the fatality and injuries, the resulting fire caused an estimated $7.9-million in damage.
With files from The Associated Press