No injuries as 12 train cars derail east of Cranbrook, B.C., CPKC says

Signage is pictured at a Canadian Pacific Kansas City rail yard in Smiths Falls, Ont., Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. (Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press)

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating after a train derailed near Cranbrook, B.C., Saturday morning.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City confirmed the derailment in an email to CTV News, saying it occurred around 7 a.m. “in a remote area in the Regional District of East Kootenay,” about 16 kilometres east of Cranbrook.

No one was injured in the incident, according to the railway.

“The preliminary assessment is that approximately 12 cars are involved, including cars carrying wood products and tanker cars carrying propane,” CPKC said in its statement.

“CPKC crews and equipment have responded to the site to conduct a full assessment and begin work on a clean-up. The cause of the derailment is under investigation.”

The TSB said it is deploying its own team of investigators to “gather information and assess the occurrence.”

The independent federal agency investigates air, marine, pipeline and rail transportation incidents in Canada with the “sole aim” of advancing transportation safety.

“It is not the function of the board to assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability,” the TSB said in its statement on the matter.

Saturday’s derailment is the second CPKC has experienced in British Columbia this month.

On Nov. 1, a CPKC train carrying fuel and gypsum went off the tracks near Kamloops, with several cars plunging down a steep slope and into Kamloops Lake.

A total of roughly 80,000 litres of aviation fuel were “released into the environment” in that incident, according to B.C.’s Environment Ministry.

CPKC did not say how much material had been spilled in Saturday’s incident.

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Lisa Steacy