Transport minister wants to know what caused Toronto derailment

Federal Transport MinisterMarc Garneausayshe wants to know what causeda derailment in Toronto that saw two CP Railtrains travelling in opposite directions sideswipe one another Sunday, causingseveral hundred litres of fuel to spill in Toronto's Annex neighbourhood.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is still investigating the cause of the collision, which appears to have occurred near a rail crossover just after 5 a.m. in the area ofHowlandAvenueandDupontStreet nearBathurst Street. It's there thatawestbound freight train clipped the last three cars of a second train that was headed eastbound, causing the carsto lean over.

"It's regrettable that this incident occurred today," Garneau told reporters Sunday at a federalcabinet retreat in Sudbury, Ont.

"I want to learn more about what caused it and certainly, if there are things we need to do, we will do them," he said.He added that the government recently put measures in place including speed restrictions, rules to immobilize trains when they are unattended, and a requirement to informfirst responders in municipalities about what kind of materials are being transported through neighbourhoods.

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The measureswere put into effect as part of a "protective directive,"Garneausaid, which builton rail safety rulesimplemented following the 2013derailment inLac-Mgantic, Que.,wherea train carrying oil tankers exploded, leaving47 people dead.

"It doesn't matter where it happens it shouldn't happen,"Garneausaid.

Canadian Pacific Railway said Sunday that human error may be to blame.

"If any disciplinary action is required, it will not be implemented until the investigation is concluded,"Martin Cej, assistant vice-president of public affairs and communications for Calgary-based CP, told CBC News.

The threefinal cars on the eastbound train the ones that were sideswiped were carrying small quantities of dangerous goods including batteries, alcoholic beverages, aerosol containers and non-flammable gases under pressure,TSB spokesman ChrisKrepskisaid. None of those goods were released during the collision, he said.

But more than 1,100litres of diesel fuel did leak fromone of the westboundtrain'sengines,Toronto FireCapt. MichaelWestwoodsaid.

'My whole house shook'

"We heard this huge bang and then my whole house shook," said nearby residentAstridJull, whosaid she's long wondered if a derailment could occur at the location.

"I never thought it would actually happen in front of our house."

"It was like a rolling sound that crescendoed into an explosion," another nearby resident, who goes by the nameD!ONNERene, said.Rene, a former Toronto mayoral candidate,has been campaigning for rail safety changes near her home for some time.

"I then looked out my window and saw that red plumage of fire and smoke."

Krepskiconfirmedthe derailmentcaused a small fire that was put out by crews with a fire extinguisher.

By 9 a.m., Cejsaid the cause of the derailment was not a mechanical one.

"Early indications are the incident is a result of human error. It was not asignallingor equipment malfunction," Cej said.

By 6 p.m., he also ruled out speed as a factor in the crash.

Mandate not to lay blame, TSB says

Krepskiwouldn't confirm whether human error played a role, sayingit isn't theTSB'smandate to lay blame and that it's too soon to know how the collision unfolded.

Toronto Fire Services saidthe dieselleak caused by thederailment hadbeen contained. The fuel did not get into storm sewers or waterways and there was no threat to public safety. Fire crews poured absorbent material onto the spill.

Earlier Sunday, before the TSB said there were dangerous materials in some of the train cars affected by the derailment, CP'sCej had saidthere were no injuries andno dangerous goods involved.

'No public safety concerns'

"There areno public safety concerns," he said.

"CP takes this issue extremely seriously. We immediatelyenacted all of our emergency response processesto deploy teams and assets to the site. Right now, the incident is under investigation."

Const. Victor Kwong, spokesman for the Toronto police, said Bartlett Avenue north of Dupont Street wasclosed to all traffic but emergency vehicles.