Scott Simpson and Darah Hansen

The federal government has ordered CN Rail to limit the length of trains on the former BC Rail line after a series of recent derailments raised doubts about the railway's safety performance.

Transport Minister Jean Lapierre said Friday in a news release that he is concerned about CN's safety record and threatened to order a public inquiry if the railway doesn't immediately address its problems.

Lapierre said he has ordered CN to limit conventional trains to 80 cars while operating northbound between Squamish and Clinton, a geographically challenging stretch of track that runs through a sensitive environmental ecosystem.

The order comes a day after nine unloaded cars that were part of a 131-car train derailed near Sunset Marina just north of Horseshoe Bay.

It was the third accident on the former BC Rail track since August, the worst of which was a chemical spill that wiped out salmon and other fish in the Cheakamus River.

In an interview Friday, CN spokesman Jim Feeny said the company has received Lapierre's order and will comply with it, although CN officials believe train length did not play a factor in the recent string of derailments.

The Transportation Safety Board is now doing a review of the previous derailments.

The B.C. government has also expressed concern about CN's performance.

Earlier this week, B.C. Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon met with CN officials to extract a commitment that more safety precautions would be taken. Falcon said Friday that Lapierre's order now adds "regulatory muscle" to those promises.

"In the rail business there are always going to be derailments," he said, "But we need to ensure that they [CN] are taking every possible safety and operational precaution to minimize the risk of future derailments."

Last month, the Canadian Transportation Safety Board said in an advisory that Transport Canada "may wish to evaluate CN's operational review and assess their equipment handling, train length and tonnage instructions to ensure they are adequate for safe train operation over the sharp curvature and heavy grades of this territory."

"I am very concerned about the recent CN derailments in British Columbia and that's why we are ordering CN to restrict the length of their conventional trains in the Squamish area as a precautionary measure, " Lapierre said.

"I am also concerned about CN's overall safety performance and I have written to senior officials at CN to express those concerns. I've made it clear if corrective actions aren't taken by the company I could call a public inquiry into CN's operations."

The severity and frequency of recent CN derailments have led Transport Canada to undertake a targeted inspection and safety review of CN to determine the company's level of compliance with the Railway Safety Act and associated rules, regulations and standards, Transport Canada said in Friday's news release.

It said "deficiencies and issues of non-compliance" were identified during a recent national inspection of CN's covered railway equipment, operations and infrastructure, including track.

CN was subject to a national inspection between Aug. 22 and Sept. 16. Transport Canada said CN was notified of the government's findings.

"CN is actively addressing the immediate concerns and an action plan has been developed to address other issues identified during the targeted inspection and safety review. Transport Canada is currently reviewing this corrective action plan."

The government intends to make all of its findings public in early December, the news release said.

"Today's Notice and Order also requires CN to provide Transport Canada with a detailed analysis of their distributed power operated train operations in the Squamish area and a comprehensive risk assessment of any changes CN has made to BC Rail's operating instructions. The analysis and assessment will focus on train length, equipment, track conditions and speed.

"The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) is currently investigating the [recent] derailments to determine the cause. Transport Canada is closely following the TSB's ongoing investigation through a minister's observer, who was appointed after the accidents. The minister's observer will advise the department of any significant regulatory factors and will identify deficiencies that may require immediate corrective action."

Falcon said he supports the federal government's decision to order a safety audit.

"I think Hunter Harrison [CN president and CEO] said it best when he told me they take these derailments very seriously. It costs them money and it costs them their reputation. He doesn't want that jeopardized and I take him at his word," Falcon said.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005