|
 Freight
Train Derails In West End
Friday December 8, 2006
Click here to view CP24 video A freight
train derailed this morning in downtown Toronto.
No injuries were reported when the Canadian
Pacific train jumped the tracks near Osler St.
and Pelham Ave., in the Dupont St. and Dundas
St. W. area, around 4 a.m. Twelve grain cars
derailed, spilling grain onto the ground,
Toronto police said.
Crews had been working on the tracks Thursday,
said Anthony Tsakopoulos, 59, owner of Brothers
Plumbing. The derailment occurred directly
behind Tsakopoulos’s business.
“They were working on the tracks. Exactly what
they were doing, I don’t know. It was a big
crane,” Tsakopoulos said, adding the incident
delayed his access to his building but isn’t
hurting business.
“It could have been bad if there was a
pedestrian nearby ... I don’t know why they
don’t do something about these tracks.”
Tsakopoulos said there have been a number of
"minor" incidents in the area, which includes
commercial and residential property, where
trains have struck signs as they passed.
Students walk by the area on their way to
Carleton Village Public School, just two blocks
north of the derailment site.
CP has launched an investigation in to the
incident and will co-operate fully with the
Transportation Safety Board, said spokesperson
Ed Greenberg.
“When an incident like this does occur, we take
it seriously because we want to find out what
happened here,” Greenberg said. He said no major
work was being done on the tracks, but said CP
crews are often performing regular scheduled
maintenance. There are also CN tracks and GO
Transit tracks nearby.
“There wasn’t anything unusual going on in that
area,” Greenberg said. CP service has
experienced no major delays.
No major traffic delays have been reported as a
result of the collision, though emergency crews
are blocking parts of Osler St. No GO Transit
delays have been reported, said GO spokesperson
Andrea Gusen.
Trains are expected to resume running along the
track by late this evening, Greenberg said.
Cleanup won't be completed for several days,
though the grain poses no public safety risk, he
added. |
