UPDATE: The damaged rail line near Corra Linn Dam was reopened Thursday evening after final mandatory inspections were completed. Both sites where trains derailed earlier this week are now open, however crews are still working on removing a submerged excavator from the site of the first derailment on Kootenay Lake near Procter.
The two train derailments that occurred within the last week are well under control as crews work to repair the damage done.
“The Corra Linn Dam derailment cleanup is progressing well,” said Ed Greenberg of Canadian Pacific.
“The four locomotives and eight railcars that did derail, but remained upright, have been moved away and our crews are now rebuilding the track.”
As the second of two derailments in the area, the cause of the incident is still unknown.
The first incident that sent an excavator into Kootenay Lake was caused by a rockslide. Those train cars involved have since been removed, but crews are still at work trying to extract the submerged excavator from the water.
“We’re finalizing plans to make sure we have the necessary staffing resources and equipment in place,” said Greenberg, adding that they should have a better idea of what will be taking place sometime next week.
“We’re still monitoring the machine and there appears to be no leaks taking place from it. We do have containment booms in place as a precautionary measure, but at this time it’s not impacting the lake that we can tell,” he said.
Greenberg said that once the repairs have been made to the damaged track near the Corra Linn Dam and the inspections have been made they will be in a position to open the line. This was expected to occur Thursday evening (past Star deadline.)
“Certainly our priority is to ensure that the necessary processes and procedures are followed before we open any line,” said Greenberg.
“We’ve started and investigation into the cause of the Corra Linn derailment and we will be doing a complete and thorough review of what occurred with that incident to ensure that we know not only what the cause was but what lead to the cause.”
