(Resource News International) — Grain and oilseed rail shipments travelling on Canadian Pacific Railway’s main line were rerouted following a train derailment near Grand Coulee, Sask., about 17 km west of Regina.
The derailment, involving 30 potash cars and one locomotive, happened around 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
“Grain and oilseed shipments continue unaffected as we were able to reroute over our northern line as well as over a couple of other subdivisions,” said Mike LoVecchio, CPR’s senior manager of media relations.
By Friday morning, the emergency response team had already left the scene and cleanup crews were repairing the damage to the railway line and were removing the damaged cars.
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“The recovery is already underway but obviously with that many cars it will take some time and we want to recover as much of the product as we can. We are looking at a minimum of a day for line re-opening,” said LoVecchio.
Breanne Feigel, CPR’s regional spokeswoman for Western Canada, said the accident caused no injuries, nor was there any danger posed to the small surrounding community.
Because potash is not a controlled substance, environmental issues were also not a concern, Feigel said. The derailment is under investigation.
