I don't think CN has any intention of changing anything.
They seem to think they are above us all and can do pretty much what they like.
Their favorite phrase..."NO ONE HURT, NO ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE" and under their breath it seems as if they are saying , now go away and leave us alone.

How many more derailmnets are going to happen before something is done?

How many have to be killed or hurt before the powers, that are supposed to be, make CN clean up their act....

AND KEEP THE TRAINS ON THE TRACKS>!!!!!!

Again, well written, Ben.
I don't believe CN will change a thing in their operating procedures. They will continue to keep Kelli Svendsen on staff to apply the whitewash.
Being the huge corporate enterprise that they are, I am sure they have a very strong lobby in Ottawa since they operate under federal law.
Speaking of federal law, have we heard from Jay Hill or Dick Harris regarding the latest incident across the Fraser River from Paddlewheel Park?

I am also interested in the assertion by BC Mary that CN just redesignated public property as part of their Rail Yards, when it is actually still owned by BC Rail and is merely being leased to CN.

How much is that rail bed worth, and why did we not get paid for it? How much of the track in other parts of BC has also been quietly filched by CN? How can BC Rail object on our behalf when, to all intents and purposes, it no longer exists?

Are you kidding Joe....
they seem to have buried themselves so deep it isn't funny...
and I'll wager that the povincial counterparts are off spending their new pay raise

Nationalize

the Railroads

NOW

The railways are such a critical part of our social infrastructure that they shouldn't be run by for profit corporations that just want to squeeze every penny of profit ot regardless of the cost to our communities, workers, and health.

This incident is case and point. CN won't release the results of their investigation becasue they are more concerned with covering their butts than they are about the potential damage to our comminity!

NOT ACCEPTABLE!

Our personal costs are too high for the sake of them lining their pockets.

Nationalize the railways NOW.

The CN/B.C.Rail issue can be traced right back to the Campbell government.
We tend to forget that when we beat on CN.
They did it and they are the ones who know what is really going on, be it good or bad.
So far,it is mostly bad, and it is long past the time when they should be held accountable.
The fact that they have managed to keep the sticky stuff off themselves so far doesn't mean the truth will never be known,it just may take a set of loose lips to get the ball rolling.
There is much more to this story and to think it is all cut and dried is naive at best.
The B.C. Liberals have some explaining to do and they need to get on with it!

Nationalize the railway! Very interesting and timely comment.

In addition to that, how about getting CN relocated away from people? They have relocated their yards and track in other major cities in Canada.

From Carney Street west there are subdivions that are adjacent to the tracks.
How about them?

Hey no fair the R.R. was there first!
Does anybody remember the inefficient machine that was the federally owned CN?
(A bottomless pit that we poured money into) that is probably what we would end up with again, and it would be expensive to get tehm R.R.'s back too........
The railways have long made their own rules, because the feds back in the late 1800's let them. Back then, the impetus was to get the rails across the country in order to get people to settle in the wilds and get some industry (farming ranching mining) happening. Apparently the lands and forests were limitless in those days, and granting such license to the rail companies was seen as necessary so that they would favour us with a pair of steel rails to the west coast. Thus, the railway companies were recipients of vast tracts of land and the authority to operate as they saw fit.
metalman.

metalman. Dont kid yourself. When the CN was owned by the Federal Government,it was a Class (1) Railway, that at one time owned Hotels, Real Estate, Airlines, etc; etc;. They ran a good efficient railway. Why do you think that it was privatized and sold. It was sold because anyone with half a brain knew it was a money maker.

Now try to understand this. When the CN was owned by the Federal Government if it had made a profit what do you think would happen. The first thing would be shppers would start screaming for rate reductions, because a Government owned entity should not make a profit a the expense of business. This problem was solved by spending huge amounts of money on infrastructure, buying first class Electric Diesel Engines , and of course having many more employees than were necessary to run the business.

The first thing that happened when CN was getting ready to be sold, was the massive lay offs of employees, and other measures to make it look good for sale. (The same thing happened to BC Rail) Once all the cost cutting was in effect the New Owners brag about their huge profits, however in actual fact they do not do much more than the old CN except they do it with less people, less maintenance, and I suspect less safely.

The CN accident in Prince George will be investigated by the TSB and they will know exactly how many cars were on each side of the accident, and what was in every car. This information is on record in the computers, and in any event the CN is required by law to give this information to the investigating body. Whether or not this info is released to the public is another matter, however if it is not, then the TSB is as much at fault as the CN Rail.

If anyone has a close up picture of the cars on the South side of the track, that will allow the Tank Car numbers to be read, then these numbers can identify what was in the Rail Cars. Different car number series are used for different commoditys.

As an example a tank car with a prefex of UTLX would probably contain Gasoline, or Diesel. In any event the car numbers could be put into the computer and it would identify the commodity it was carrying. Most shippers and consignees have access to the CN computer for tracing purposes.

Bang on Palapu. I worked for the Canadian National Railway for 13 years before it was sold off. It was indeed an efficient operation with a few too many employees and an excellent safety record. It was a good place to work and most employees took pride in their work. The US masters are in it for only the bottom line and nothing else. That is not new though as years ago it was the British owners of the CNR that called the shots. Full circle? Bottom line, I don't think I would like to work for the CN today. The day of reconing is coming, there will be a serious accident sooner rather than later if things continue the way they are.

Thanks for elaborating on the little that I knew about the situation, it is good to be well informed.
metalman.

Does anyone have any info on all the 'near misses'? Or on the reason being given by the company for all the manager personnel being used in place of properly-trained railway workers?
Is this US-owned company that should not be allowed to use the word 'Canadian' in its name trying to drive a wedge into the union? What is going on? I can't believe the lack of whistle-blowers - and I don;t mean train whistles.

Why would you assume that a Railway Manager is somehow less properly trained than the rest of the railway workers? Do you have proof that this is the case. If not, why bring it up?

My experience in business is that as the owner and manager, I need to know more than all of my employees combined. And the responsibility falls in my lap when things go wrong as well. Hard to get an employee to take responsibility when they make a mistake. Watch the pointing finger show up. Nope, not me, not my fault. Chester

Chester: You make good points...
Absolute proof? None. Media reports that managers were on deck at this and other incidents, and at several 'near misses'? At that time, the reports also stated that the managers were not as well-trained in the procedures they were carrying out. Entirely depends upon what the manager usually managed, I guess. Managing the guys who usually did the job, I'd agree with you. Brought up from the US or, even from Saskatachewan, with cursory training, to work the BC Rails? I doubt it. certainly, the word is that "the company was urging more cars be added that 'the guys' said was not safe." So - who in the company? The managers? Would be good to know, though, how many accidents have occurred with managers at the helm vs those with 'the guys' at the helm. It would also help to put things into better perspective if someone would 'fess up and tell us how many BC Rail derailments in the five years before, and how many after CN Rail took over.
You tell me - will the Province ever tell us that?

CN is short of trained Employees because of the the massive downsizing mode that they have been in for the last 15 years, or so. They are now in a position where they have had few new employees coming in and a lot of older employees retiring.

There problem is a result of trying to make huge profits, however the chickens have now come home to roost. They still have to run the railway but they do not have the necessary manpower to do so. In addition the Canadian Economy is booming and therefore it is hard for them to get new employees. I have talked to a number of retired railway workers who have been approached to come back to work. Now that mandatory retirement is considered discriminatory they will try and rehire some of their retired people.

In the meantime they will have to run the Railway with the people they have. What this means is using management people when necessary. I recently was made aware of some management (sales) people in Vancouver who were sent to Saskatoon to work in the switching yards. This has a detremental effect on these people because they did not hire out to be trainmen. As far as I know they receive training, however they have no practical experience, and I wouldnt want to work with too many of them for to long.

This problem is not going to go away in the short term, as there will continue to be a huge requirement for employees in Northern BC and Alberta, at Alcan in Kitimat, etc;, and CN Rail will have to compete for these people.