TSB Releases Report on Fatal Uncontrolled Train Movement in New Brunswick

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has released a report into a fatal uncontrolled train movement in New Brunswick in 2018.

On 4 December 2018, two cars ran uncontrolled westward on the west lead track at Canadian National Edmundston Yard in New Brunswick. The leading car struck a trailing locomotive travelling in the opposite direction.

The conductor trainee, who was standing on the footboard of the locomotive was trapped between the locomotive and the leading car and was fatally injured.

There was no derailment and no dangerous goods were involved.

The two cars had been temporarily left on the west lead track with only the emergency brakes applied, as the crew considered them to be “attended”. If the cars had been considered to be “unattended”, the employees would have been required to secure them by applying hand brakes to both cars, and conducting a brake effectiveness test.

The investigation found that the railway company instructions and employee training do not clearly define the factors and risks that employees must consider to determine whether they are in close enough proximity to take effective action to stop the equipment should it move unintentionally.

The brake effectiveness of the two cars had been reduced due to ice contamination during the previous moves inside the yard.