Derailment clean-up restricts traffic north of Saskatoon

Clean-up efforts continued Wednesday morning following a train derailment  just north of Saskatoon.

A 52-car long CN Rail train carrying grain derailed around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, with some 30 rail cars coming off the track at a crossing at Highway 11 and Wanuskewin Road. The derailment led to a fire and diesel fuel leak on a locomotive, which was eventually extinguished by firefighters.

By Wednesday morning, workers had cleared damaged rail cars off the crossing, allowing repairs to begin on the track itself.

Dramatic change in the look of rail crossing at Highway 11 and Wanuskewin Road. Damaged rail cars have been pushed off to side of road, big piles of dirt all around. You can also see the charred remains of the train engine that caught fire. Still only 1 SB lane open. #yxe pic.twitter.com/OioZhmsBu5

— Chris Vandenbreekel (@Vandecision) January 23, 2019

As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, there was one lane of southbound traffic open on Highway 11, with northbound lanes still closed from just past 71st Street.

Northbound traffic was being detoured to Highway 12 through Martensville and Highway 305 back to Highway 11.

Wanuskewin Road northbound was also closed just past Penner Road in order to allow for access to Cathedral Bluffs.

Drivers were advised that closures would remain in place until all affected portions of roadway could be fully inspected. People were asked to pay attention to message boards and speed restrictions around the scene.

Investigators from the federal Transportation Safety Board reportedly arrived at the scene Tuesday night to begin an investigation into what caused the derailment.

No injuries were reported as a result of the derailment.

Derailment drill happened week before real thing

Warman Mayor Sheryl Spence said the derailment had caused a headache for some commuters from her city to Saskatoon, but she was thankful the community wasn’t cut off completely due to Highway 305’s connection with Highway 12.

“It has been a disadvantage for sure, but the one good thing about our community is there’s other ways out,” she said.

Spence expressed her thanks to first responders who attended the derailment and ensured everyone was safe.

She was particularly proud of how Warman’s firefighters acted.

“They were in there, very involved, very capable,” she said.

“Although we don’t want to see that happen again, I think we’re prepared for these situations.”

Warman crews were particularly prepped for the situation at hand thanks to some timely training. First responders were put through a drill last week involving a mock derailment, simulating what would happen if a CN train derailed along the tracks running through the city.

“I can’t stress how important it is to make sure your emergency measures teams are practicing for these events, because you never know when something’s going to happen,” Spence said.

— With files from 650 CKOM’s Chris Vandenbreekel.