Dynamic Brakes Ordered After Train Fatality

A train derailment that killed two train crewmembers in British Columbia has resulted in an order that all locomotives traveling through the Lillooet area where the accident occurred be equipped with special brakes.

The order for dynamic brakes, which control a train’s speed as it is moving downhill, came from Lawrence Cannon, transportation minister for the Canadian government.

A locomotive and a lumber car left the tracks and plunged over a cliff, killing two trainmen and injuring a third earlier this summer.

“We are ordering CN to use dynamic brake-equipped locomotives in the Lillooett area as an added safety precaution on this steep downhill slope until the causes and contributing factors of this tragic accident can be determined,” said Cannon.

Transport Canada, which is responsible for railway safety across the country, will also be reviewing with railway companies the use of locomotives not equipped with dynamic brakes in their British Columbia rail operations.

Canada’s Transportation Safety Board is trying to determine why the train derailed.