Train carrying new cars derails west of Cambridge, Ont.
A Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) freight train carrying new cars derailed just west of Cambridge, Ont. on Wednesday afternoon.
A spokesperson for CPKC told CTV News via email the freight train was carrying finished automotive vehicles when it derailed around 4 p.m.
“There were no injuries, and there are no public safety concerns,” the spokesperson said.
“CPKC crews and equipment are responding to the derailment. CPKC regrets the inconvenience the incident created.”
A train is seen after it derailed west of Cambridge, Ont. on May 17. (Terry Kelly/CTV News)
Robert Shantz, fire chief of the Township of North Dumfries told CTV News that a total of 13 train cars were off the tracks.
“Fire has been released from the scene. There’s no public safety concern from the trains that have come off the tracks,” Shantz said around 6 p.m.
Shantz said non-hazardous material was involved in the derailment.
All cars that came off the tracks were car carriers, according to Shantz.
Shantz expects it will be a lengthy process to clean it up and repair the tracks.
A portion of a train that derailed near Cambridge, Ont. on May 17. (Submitted)
Waterloo regional police said the line the train is on is a CP railway line, and they are handling the investigation
In a tweet posted just before 6 p.m., the Township of North Dumfries said Alps Road between Dumfries Road and Reidsville Road is closed due to a CP train derailment of non-hazardous material.
The road closure remained in effect for over 12 hours with the township tweeting Thursday around 7:30 a.m. that Alps Road had reopened.
"At approximately 16:46 hours (4:46 pm) this afternoon the North Dumfries Fire Department was dispatched to attend a derailment along the CP rail corridor. Upon investigation it was confirmed that a CP freight train, comprised of car carriers, derailed in an area generally located between Alps Road and Cedar Creek Road," the township said in a post to its website.
The Transportation Saftey Board (TSB) said it was notified of the derailment on Wednesday evening.
"We are currently monitoring the situation and gathering information, but we are not planning on deploying investigators to the scene as of right now," the TSB said in an email.
A photo of the derailed train on May 17, 2023. (CTV News/Terry Kelly)
Around 6 p.m., a truck with a boom on it arrived to the scene.
The boom truck had to go through a farmer’s field in order to get to the train cars.
The cause of the derailment remains unknown.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.