There was a derailment near Field, B.C. yesterday.
At approximately 11:00 a.m, 16 cars derailed eight kilometres east of Field in the spiral tunnels.
There are two spiral tunnels, the lower tunnel spirals up inside a mountain for 891 metres and emerges 15 metres higher. The higher tunnel spirals inside another mountain for 991 metres and emerges 17 metres higher. The tunnels were built in 1909 to reduce the number of derailments as trains descended from Kicking Horse Pass to Field.
Canadian Pacific Railways says there were no injuries and crews are on site to determine cause for the derailment. The line is currently closed with trains being rerouted via other routes, such as further south over Crowsnest Pass. Canadian Pacific Railways gave no time for when the line would reopen.
“The train was carrying a variety of commodities,” says Salem Woodrow, media relations for Canadian Pacific Railways. Woodrow would not comment on what the train was carrying specifically, but says there were no hazardous materials. Canadian Pacific Railways wouldn’t comment on how frequent derailments are in the tunnels.
Canadian Pacific Railways is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta and owns roughly 20,000 kilometres of tracks across Canada and the U.S..