Runaway Regina railcar reached speeds up to 30 km/h after air brakes lost pressure: TSB

A Transportation Safety Board report says the circumstances that led to a railcar rolling out of control through the streets of Regina last year, passing through seven intersections,could have been prevented.

In March 2016, the rogue railcarcrossed the path of a Canadian Pacific Railway line and reached speeds of up to 30 km/h. The rogue tank car travelled 4.3 kilometresstarting at the Co-op Refinery before it stopped at Robinson Street and First Avenue N.

In its report, the board found that Cando Rail Services was switching tank cars carrying asphalt when one of the cars rolled awayout of control.

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The report said thecar was left unattendedand onlyheld in place with emergency air brakes. When the air brakes lost pressure, they released, allowing the car to roll away.

The board wrote that hand brakes should have been applied to the railcars, to make sure they were securely in place. As well, workers hadn't tested the hand brakes, hadn't conducted a safety briefing and didn't make an emergency radio broadcast when the tank car rolled away.

The crew apparently tried to catch the runaway car with their locomotive, but weren't able to do so without breaking the rules of their operating limits in the city.

Since the incident, the board found that Cando Rail Services has improved its safety measures, including a system-wide notice that all equipment must have the minimum number of hand brakes applied while parked.

The car did not derail and no one was hurt.

Runaway rail equipment incidents rising

The report said the incident shows runaway rail incidents are on the rise, even afterthe Lac-Mgantic, Que.,rail disaster in 2013. In that case, an unattended train carrying crude oil rolled down the hill into thetown, killing 47 people in an explosion and fire.

In theLac-Mganticincident, a Transport Canadainvestigation found that an insufficient number of handbrakes were set on the train and that the handbrakes were not tested properly.

While Transport Canada revised its rules after the disaster, the board says runaway rail equipment continues to be a serious problem, and is on the rise. In 2014, there were 21 cases of runaway rail equipment. In 2016, there were 27 incidents.

Runaway trains and railcars have caused a number of serious issues in the past, from train derailments and collisions to fatalities.

In 2015, Transport Canada issued an order to rail companies to put more defences in place to stop runaway equipment.