Audio from Calgary Transit dispatch the morning of a freight train derailment in southwest Calgary last week indicates CTrain operators witnessed a joyrider hanging off a CPKC train shortly before several of its cars went off the rails into the Priddis Slough.
The conversation between Calgary Transit and CPKC dispatch and the Red Line LRT operators is available on Broadcastify, a website that publishes live audio feeds from public safety, aircraft, rail and marine audio scanners. The details were first reported by CTV Calgary.
Shortly after 7:30 a.m. on July 13, an LRT operator radioed dispatch to report what appeared to be a trespasser hanging from the last car of a CPKC freight train.
The CPKC tracks run parallel to the Red Line tracks in south Calgary.
“CP Rail, there would be a guy attached to the side of the train as (it) was going by,” the operator said. “He wasn’t one of the workers and he looked like he was in a panic mode.”
“Sorry, you said there was someone attached to the train on the train that went by? Was it going inbound?” replied a dispatcher.
The operator responded that the train was heading southbound and the apparent trespasser was “struggling, hanging onto a side latch” on the final car of the train.
A few minutes later, another Calgary Transit employee said a separate CPKC train was “going backward” and no one appeared to be driving it.
“I don’t know if they’re allowed to do that at 50 kilometres an hour,” he said. “I’m wondering if that guy who was hanging onto the side uncoupled the trains?
“He seemed to be only a minute behind the other one but it’s going backward and there’s no line of sight at all. It’s kind of bizarre. It wasn’t at a slow speed.”
Another employee chimed in that the joyrider was still hanging off the back of the train. He described the trespasser as a male, wearing blue jeans and having brown hair.
“He’s on the very top of that trailing car of that train and if he falls off, he’ll be picked up later,” he said.
“He’s definitely joyriding. He was waving to everybody at the Fish Creek platform here. He’s having a good time, at least until he falls off.”
The conversation occurred minutes before a CPKC train derailed near the 17000 block of Sheriff King Street S.W., south of Stoney Trail. A number of boxcars and tanker cars carrying a combination of cargo veered into the Priddis Slough, a large wetland sandwiched between Silverado and Chaparral.
Eight tank cars carrying dangerous goods were involved in the derailment, seven of which contained liquefied petroleum gas while one contained Argon, a refrigerated liquid. The other cars were transporting wood construction products, such as lumber and plywood.
Audio from the CPKC dispatch reporting the derailment is also on Broadcastify.
“Are you all OK, do you require any medical services?” a dispatch employee asked the train operator sometime between 7:45 and 8:15 a.m.
A crew member responded that they’re “fine,” adding the conductor “is just walking the train right now.”
“(Rail Traffic Control) has told us that there was a trespasser on our train,” he said.
On Friday, a CPKC spokesperson confirmed the individual seen hanging from the train had been charged with criminal activity related to mischief over $5,000. The charges also include mischief endangering life, interference with transportation facilities and failure to appear in court.
Charges were brought by the CPKC’s own police service. The accused’s first court case in Alberta Court of Justice was supposed to be last Friday, while his next court date is July 27.
“The CPKC Police Services thanks the Calgary Police Service for their collaboration,” the CPKC spokesperson said.
All the involved rail cars and their contents have been removed from the area, according to CPKC. Plywood and lumber from the involved rail cars was also removed, with cleanup completed earlier this week.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is investigating the derailment as a Class 3 occurrence, though did not indicate in a Friday statement whether a joyrider or potential train car uncoupling will factor into the investigation.
A TSB spokesperson reiterated the CPKC train was heading south on the main track when 13 rail cars went off the rails at Mile 108 on the Aldersyde Subdivision.
“There were no reported leaks of dangerous goods,” the spokesperson said. “A body of water adjacent to the right-of-way was impacted by the derailment.”
The investigation is ongoing and in the preliminary stages, they added.
“This is all the information available at this time.”
Class 3 investigations refer to incidents that involve multiple fatalities or serious injuries, or involve a medium-sized release of dangerous goods, according to the TSB’s website. The classification could also be due to moderate to significant property or environmental damage, or public expectations that the TSB will investigate.