Authorities were never made aware that a runaway train was on its way to levelling the heart of Lac-Megantic, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said Tuesday.

Rail dispatchers had no chance to intervene during the fateful 18-minute journey because they didn't know it was happening, said TSB lead investigator Donald Ross.

"There were no signals, no track circuits, so the rail traffic controller had no indication, and would have no indication that there had been a runaway train," said Ross.

Such systems are in place on busier rail lines including the one linking Montreal and Quebec City, but not on secondary lines, said TSB manager Ed Belkaloul.

A clearer picture of the events leading up to the fatal derailment began to emerge Tuesday as board officials gave a bare-bones account of their investigation thus far.

The Transportation Safety Board said it has a long investigation ahead of it to determine exactly what caused a train to roll free and crash.

He said there are about 14 TSB officials on site to determine what happened, and how similar accidents can be avoided in future.

Excess speed: TSB

The runaway train that derailed this weekend was going well in excess of the authorized speed limit of the tracks when it came into Lac-Megantic.

"Although we can't provide the precise speed at this time, the train was travelling well in excess of its authorized speed at that point. The locomotive detached from the rest of the train and carried through the rest of the town and out the other side, approximately six-tenths of a mile," the Transportation Safety Board’s lead investigator Donald Ross said Tuesday.

Ross said it is too early to assign blame for the accident which killed at least 13, with approximately 40 others still missing, but said something clearly went wrong when the train skipped the track in Lac-Megantic.

Ross outlined the chain of events that led up to the disaster, saying the train first stopped in Nantes, Que., about 13 kilometres away. A fire was reported on the train just before midnight, which firefighters extinguished.

Then, just before 1 a.m., after the fire crew and the train engineer had left the scene, the train started moving downhill towards Lac-Megantic. The train derailed at 1:14 a.m.

Recommendation

One recommendation is already on the books: the TSB wants to see improvements to the all-purpose Dot-111 tanker cars, which are used to transport many sorts of liquids including crude oil.

"We've had a long record of advocating for further improvement to many of these 111's," said Ross.

"When you take very large volumes of petroleum like in this case, everyone sees the damage that was caused here so, we've had a long history of supporting and advocating for further improvements to all cars."

The train was parked on the tracks near Nantes, about 12 km from Lac-Megantic, when it caught fire just before midnight on Friday. After the fire was extinguished the train was left in the car of the Montreal, Maine and America Rail engineer, who has told the TSB that the brakes were properly applied before he left.

Over the weekend the MMA said the brake failure stemmed from firefighters turning off the engine while they were fighting the fire.

The TSB has access to two recording devices located on the runaway train but has not yet determined why the train started rolling free shortly before 1 a.m.
 

Company that owns derailed train was regularly inspected: Transport Canada

Officials from Transport Canada said Tuesday that the company that owns the train that derailed was regularly inspected and monitored.

Director general of rail safety Luc Bourdon said Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MMA) was subject to Transport Canada’s rules and regulations, like any other rail company.

He said over the last year MMA was subject to inspections on 511 cars, 37 crossings, 20 locomotives and 514 miles of track.

“We’re monitoring them same as any other company,” he said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

He added that the train was inspected the night before the derailment and no deficiencies were found.

During the news conferences, Transport Canada officials faced a barrage of questions over the reported chain of events leading up to Saturday’s disaster.

Questions about operating procedures, hand-brake requirements, the strength of the tanker cars carrying the cargo and the minimum number of crew members required to man a train were lobbed at the officials.

When asked how common is it in Canada to leave a train unmanned for the night, as the MMA train was reported to be, Bourdon said it was “very unusual.”

He maintained that the number of train inspectors has not gone down, despite concerns to the contrary.

Bourdon said there are 101 safety inspectors and 35 inspectors for hazardous goods. He also said Transport Canada performed 20,000 inspections last year.

Gerard McDonald, assistant deputy minister of safety and security, said he was extending his “deepest condolences” to the devastated community.

McDonald said Transport Canada would fully cooperate with the TSB as it continues its investigation and would be looking at ways to increase safety.


 

With reports from CTVNews.ca and The Canadian Press