Trapped train workers probably couldn't send distress signal: rail expert

Trapped in the wreckage of a derailed train in northern Manitoba, two rail workers likely had no way to call for help, a transportationsafety expert says.

It wouldn't have mattered what emergency devices were on board last Saturday,suggestsGordonLovegrove, an engineering professor at the University of British Columbia.

"They had no time to react and grab whatever they needed," Lovegrovesaid of the fatal derailment near Ponton, Man., which claimed the lifeof one man and left another with life-threatening injuries.

"I doubt they even saw they were heading for a washout and then once they were on the side, out of commission, injured, then it becomes what the system has built-in as a safety check to respond to these guys and get them the care they needed."

Lovegrovebelieves staff were waiting for the trainat stops further up the line, but he couldonly speculate.

"I'm surprised if it was indeed hours while they were pinned and not getting help, that somebody wasn't tweaking into this, and saying they were supposed to check-in an hour ago or two hours ago," he said.

Once help arrived, emergency personnel worked through the night.

A 38-year-old, who died, and a 59-year-old weretrapped in alocomotive forhours after their freight traintried to cross land that was no longer there,halfway betweenThompson and The Pas.

'Thrown everywhere'

Their communications equipment, Lovegrove suggests, may have been useless if thewashed-out section of track was ina dead zone.

And even if their radios or phones worked, they probably couldn't retrieve them.

"Everything is thrown everywhere, including bodies," Lovegrove said. "It doesn't matter whether [the satellite phone is] hanging up or not, thatthing would have to be bolted up inside an almost bomb-proof case when you're talking a derailment."

It isn't known if the two railway workers couldhave made a distress call.

Transport Canada said it couldn't answer that question, since it will besubject to their investigation.

The Arctic Gateway Group, the company that now operates the railway, declined to answer any of CBC's questions, citing the probe by government agencies.

There is no requirement under the Railway Safety Act to have emergency communications devices on board trains. However, most locomotives usually have that equipment, a Transport Canada official said in an email Saturday.

The RCMP said it was alerted when a helicopter flying above, last Saturday at 5:45 p.m., spotted the derailmentbelow.Sgt. PaulManaigreacknowledged last weekendthe men could have been waiting"a few hours" before RCMP were called.

Upon receiving the 911 call,officers from theWabodwenRCMP detachment drove ahalf-hour south to Ponton, where they were airlifted to the crash site by the same helicopter whose occupants called in the tragedy.

They landed at the swampy area at 6:50 p.m.

"I think the response time is pretty quick," said Sewell, district advisor fortheWabodwenRCMP detachment. "It's basically one hour on the ground at this remote train disaster."

While the officers were on the way,RCMPdispatchers in Winnipeg spoke with the railway company to confirm the type ofhazardous materials on board.He said officers were not delayed.

RCMPsaid the surviving worker was freed at2:20 a.m. eight hours after the emergency was reported to police.The otherworker was pronounced dead early Sunday morning,Sewellsaid.

Police say the trapped men were conscious when they arrived.

The extrication work was challengingbecause of the specialized equipment and personnel needed, as well as concerns over the transport cars beginningto leak and moving debris, RCMPspokesperson Sgt. PaulManaigresaid.

"I had been told that there was a locomotive partially stacked on top of the primary locomotive, which you have to assume could move at any time," he wrotein an email.

The province said Friday the diesel leak from the locomotive, spilling into theMetishtoRiver, has been contained.

Sewellsaid the helicopter's participation in the emergency response was ruled unsafe byCANUTEC, a governmentagency looking aftertransportation incidents consisting of dangerous goods,so ambulance and fire personnel arrivedby rail.

Beaver, high water possible culprits

They came across 30-50 feet of washed-away track, according to JerryBerriault, a regional senior investigator with the Transportation Safety Board, in an interview earlier this week.

He said two wooden culverts became blocked sometime after thelast inspection on Sept. 13, two days before thederailment. The buildup of water eventually broke thefoundation supporting the tracks.

High water in the area and beaver activity may have caused the blockage,Berriaultsaid.

The lead locomotive, travelling 40 kilometres per hour, ranoff the track, derailing two more locomotives and four railcars.

The TSB decided to classify its investigation into the incident as a Class 3 occurrence, spokesperson Alexandre Fournier said.

An investigation, perhaps resulting in recommendations,generally takes around 450 days, he said. Any findings will be made public.

It was announced in late August that the Arctic Gateway Grouphad purchased, from Denver-basedOmnitrax,the flood-damaged Hudson Bay Railway line between Winnipeg and Churchill.

The consortium includes Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings and Manitoba'sMissinippiRail Limited Partnership, as well asSaskatchewan-basedAGT.

Via Rail has temporarily suspendedpassenger service on the lineuntil the railway is deemed safe. No timeline for restoration has been determined.

Timeline:

Sept. 15, unknown Train runs off track. Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board are trying to determine when it happened. ARCMP spokesperson said it may have occurred a few hours before police were alerted.

Sept. 15, 5:45 p.m. RCMPreceive a call from a helicopter who happened to fly over the area about the train derailment.

Sept. 15, 6:50 p.m. Two police officers from the Wabowden RCMP detachment arriveat the site of the derailment. They were airlifted by helicopter.

Sept. 16, early morning A 38-year-old man on board the train is pronounced dead.

Sept. 16, 2:20 a.m. The surviving worker is freed from the locomotive. He was trapped for at least eight hours.

With files from Marianne Klowak, Sarah Petz and Scott Gibson