The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has found that a failure in safety procedures led to a collision last year between a Canadian Pacific Railway train and a track maintenance vehicle north of Lake Superior.
On March 6, 2016 a CP foreman and a machine operator were riding in a crew-cab pickup truck equipped to travel on rails after they finished a snow-clearing job at a siding east of Chapleau.
They headed west, intending to exit the track at a nearby crossing, but about 20 minutes into the trip they unexpectedly encountered an eastbound train.
As the train crew applied the emergency brake, the two workers stopped their truck and jumped out of the way before the train slammed into it at a speed of 35 mph.
The vehicle was destroyed by the impact, while the locomotive sustained minor damage.
In its report on the incident, issued Tuesday, the TSB said the track maintenance crew had failed to obtain the required Track Occupancy Permit that's meant to protect workers from trains.
The agency also said "further administrative defences were nullified when the crew did not follow other procedures designed to identify errors," resulting in their vehicle being operated undetected on the track for about eight miles.
"The foreman was likely fatigued when the crew boarded the vehicle and left the siding," the report noted.
It added that the maintenance vehicle involved in the collision was not equipped to be detectable by rail traffic control when it was on the track.
Following the incident, CP responded to a Transport Canada letter of non-compliance, saying a safety bulletin reviewing the occurrence and applicable rules had been issued to all engineering employees.
Over 2500 staff were also tested on track protection procedures.
