Saskatoon

Human error blamed for runaway railway car in Saskatoon

Canadian Pacific Railways says human error caused a lone railway car to slip away from the Sutherland Yards in Saskatoon on March 27. The runaway rail car crossed two intersections. No one was injured.

Transportation Safety Board investigating incident from March 27

Canadian Pacific Railways says human error caused a runaway rail car to slip away from the Sutherland Yards in Saskatoon on March 27. (CBC News)

Human error is being blamed for a runaway railcar in Saskatoon last month, according to Canadian Pacific Railways.

At around 3 a.m. CST on March 27, the tail end car of a CP train rolled away from the Sutherland Yards in Saskatoon. 

CP spokesperson Salem Woodrow said the empty railcar rolled away at a low speed "across the Central Avenue and 115 Avenue crossings. Both crossing warning systems activated automatically."

The train came to a stop on the main line. There were no injuries.

Transport Canada and the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) were immediately notified of the incident. Woodrow said CP is fully cooperating with the investigation. The company has conducted its own initial investigation and said human error is to blame.

TSB spokesperson Chris Krepski said they weren't initially deployed to this incident but are now investigating.

"We're going to look at how the train was handled, the procedures in place during the switching operations and any information from rail traffic controls," Krepski said. "It's about investigating all of those aspects."

This isn't the only runaway car the TSB is investigating in Saskatchewan. In early March, a railcar full of asphalt rolled away from the Co-op oil refinery complex in Regina and crossed seven streets before coming to a stop.