Hazardous material travelling by rail through Calgary on the rise

Calgary'srecentlyretired fire chiefsays people might be surprised to learn how much more hazardous material is going through the cityby rail.

Bruce Burrell saysit's not just oil, but includes a variety of materials like chlorine, molten sulphur and ammonia.

• EXCLUSIVE |Calgary bills CP Rail $500K for Alyth Yard train derailment
• Train derailment near downtown Calgary raises concerns
• CP responds to Calgary mayor's anger over rail bridge failure

He says there's been a substantial increase in the past couple of years,and the department has boosted its training to preparefor any problems.

"As rail traffic increases, there's probably an increased frequency of the probability or possibility of something bad happening," said Burrell.

Calgary issending six firefighters to a special centre in Colorado this year that trains first responders on how to handle hazardous train derailments and chemical leaks.

Meanwhile, one ofCanada's largest rail operator says it's also better prepared for problems.

Canadian Pacific (CP) Railway saysit has increased its track inspections as well as its training and emergency response measuressince the disastrous derailment in Lac-Mgantic,Que., last year.

• Lac-Mgantic remembers: A town united in grief

"We've increased our incident response capabilities across our network though the strategic positioning of additional fire suppression equipment, materials and having hazmat specialists to go along with our contract network of environment experts that our rail already has in place," said CP spokesperson Ed Greenberg.

He says more dangerous goods are being shipped in order to meet consumer and market demand for those products.