CP Rail says investigation into freight train derailment could take months

Canadian Pacific Railway has said it could be weeks or months before investigators can determine the cause of the derailment that killed a young Kewsick, Ontario mother and her aunt on Wednesday evening near Whitby, Ontario.

A freight train, travelling at approximately 80 kilometres an hour, was heading northwest to Toronto when the last two freight cars came off the tracks landing just north of Highway 2.

The cars were carrying seven containers each, filled with household goods and paper products, which fell as the train left the tracks, reports the National Post.

Brock Winter, vice-president of field operations for CP Rail, called the accident unusual and said these types of containers are not affixed to the train, but that their own weight normally keeps them in place.

The 14 loose containers, weighing a total of at least 210 tonnes, and the two derailed cars slid down an embankment on the southeast side of the bridge and on to the road below, destroying the southbound vehicle driven by Christine Harrington, 19.

The crash is being investigated by Durham Regional Police, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada and CP Rail. CP has held a news conference stressing the company’s safety record but giving no explanation for the accident, saying it would be premature to speculate.