9 May 2006
Derailed Train Deaths Caused by Faulty Wheel: TSB
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In a report released Tuesday, the Transportation Safety Board (TSB)
blamed a faulty wheel for the train derailment.
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In a report released Tuesday, the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) is blaming a faulty wheel rim for
a Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) train derailment in Whitby that killed two women back on 14 Jan 2004.
Kathleen Kellachan, 36, and her 19-year-old niece, Christine Harrington, were killed after a cargo container fell on their
car as they passed under a railway bridge east of the Garden Street overpass in Whitby.
In the report, the TSB says a faulty rail wheel rim fell apart in the freezing temperatures causing the derailment.
"We found that a wheel rim on the train progressively failed and finally shattered resulting in the derailment," TSB chair
Wendy Tadros said Tuesday.
"This wheel failure caused a number of breaks to occur in the rail over a five-hour period as the train traversed the
57 miles between Coburn and Whitby."
While the breaks were fixed by the crew, the failing wheel went undetected, Tadros said.
"With nothing to link the two, the failed breaks and the failing wheel appeared totally unrelated and the train was not stopped in
time."
The derailment released 14 cargo containers including the one that caused the fatal accident.
The TSB also noted in a press release that "insufficient measures were in place to address very high workload situations."
The report recommends that "Transport Canada work with the Railway Association of Canada to implement rail traffic control
protocols and training that will recognize periods of high workload and make safety paramount."
Tadros said that CPR has taken action to fix the flawed wheels as they are being phased out from trains throughout North America.
But the victims' families have argued that CP could have done more to stop the train before it derailed.
Christine Harrington mother, Angela, has been left to take care of her daughter's son, five-year-old Nolan.
"Every day you wake up looking at Nolan and it's a constant reminder of what's happened," Angela Harrington told CTV Toronto.
"I can only hope that the recommendations are followed through," Harrington said.
The 61-page report took more than two years for the TSB to release.
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