Skip to content

Train derails in Port Coquitlam but no injuries or danger

Nobody was injured when a train derailed Thursday afternoon at the Port Coquitlam rail yard. According to Canadian Pacific Railway spokesperson Salem Woodrow, the incident occurred at slow speed and there were no public safety concerns.
CP Rail is investigating after a train derailed at slow speed at the Port Coquitlam rail yard Thursday afternoon.

Nobody was injured when a train derailed Thursday afternoon at the Port Coquitlam rail yard.

According to Canadian Pacific Railway spokesperson Salem Woodrow, the incident occurred at slow speed and there were no public safety concerns.

"CP immediately deployed crews to the site," Woodrow said in an email to The Tri-City News. "The incident is under investigation."

The derailment occurred two years to the day from when a massive fire broke out at the PoCo yard when a tanker truck carrying ethanol collided with a rail car. No injuries occurred in that incident although businesses within 800 metres of the yard were evacuated.

Fire broke out at approximately two years ago when a tanker truck carrying ethanol collided with a rail car and burst into flames, sending plumes of smoke into the air that could be seen for miles. - Shane MacKichan Photo

More recently, a locomotive engineer was killed on the property in an incident last month that prompted Teamsters Canada to call on the federal government and industry to work harder to prevent "senseless railway tragedies."

CP Rail's said at the time the incident was under investigation.