By JEFF NAGEL
Black Press

B.C. Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon said Tuesday he is seeking a meeting with CN executives after a string of derailments, a move that didn't impress the NDP opposition. NDP transportation critic David Chudnovsky reminded Falcon in the legislature Tuesday that in the last three months, CN has seen five derailments in B.C. alone, including incidents near Squamish and Hixon as well as two in the Cheakamus Canyon. Monday's derailment of empty lumber cars in Cheakamus Canyon was the second on that winding stretch of track, following a fish-killing spill of sodium hydroxide into the Cheakumus River in August. It's the tenth derailment for CN in western Canada in three months. An August accident on the shore of Lake Wabamun in Alberta also resulted in a toxic spill of pole treatment and bunker oil.

Trains should be shortened from the 120 to 140 cars now being run by CN to the roughly 80 cars per train run by BC Rail until answers can be found, Chudnovsky said. He said some experts have suggested the longer trains may have been a factor in the recent derailments. "It seems reasonable that until we know what the cause is, we reduce the length of the trains," Chudnovsky said. In an interview, Falcon acknowledged that the derailments are a concern, but said he will wait for the results of the federal Transportation Safety Board investigation before drawing conclusions. "We need to get to the bottom of why there's been two derailments in fairly close proximity around the Cheakamus Canyon area," Falcon said. "It suggests to me there's some kind of issue."

© The Williams Lake Tribune 2005