TORONTO — A new report has found an overreliance on visual inspections of the train tracks may have contributed to the derailment of a GO Transit train at Toronto’s Union Station that disrupted commuter travel for days earlier this year.
The report recently released by Metrolinx confirms an initial investigation that found the Feb. 2 derailment was caused by missing screws on a railway track just outside the station.
It says two screws were installed per plate at the site, while four were required under new standards implemented last year.
As well, it says the screws across nine consecutive timber ties were loose, missing or degraded, making the fastening system unable to hold the rail in place. As a result, the rail shifted about 3.5 centimetres.
The report says the investigation found “limitations associated with relying primarily on routine visual inspections to identify track infrastructure degradation,” including that they cannot “reliably determine the remaining holding strength or clamping effectiveness” of the screws.
It also says that conducting geometry testing on an annual basis makes it difficult to spot fastening degradation that develops in between the tests, noting the derailment took place before the next scheduled geometry inspection cycle.
“The combination of visually based inspections, limited inspection prompts, annual geometry testing intervals, and discretionary use of enhanced testing methods reduced the likelihood of identifying track infrastructure irregularities and progressive fastening degradation before the condition escalated into a derailment risk,” the report says.
“The fact that was missed in the inspection suggests the inspections weren’t being done with the rigour they need to be done,” Jeff Casello, a transportation planning and engineering professor with the University of Waterloo, tells CityNews. “Then, after the derailment, to go out and do such a widespread look and find the magnitude or the number of places where this deficiency was identified, it’s a little bit concerning.”
Metrolinx CEO Michael Lindsay discussed the findings at the agency’s board meeting Thursday, saying no mechanical deficiencies or non-compliant actions by the train crew were identified.
“The cause, therefore, was a legacy infrastructure condition that developed progressively over time,” he said.
The agency has continued to check that a similar condition doesn’t exist elsewhere on the railway and has updated its protocols to strengthen inspections, he said.
“That’s very concerning and obviously I’m very glad they did this due diligence analysis on this corridor,” Transport Action Ontario president Peter Miasek tells CityNews. “What again I want to make sure, …is that the rest of the hundreds of other kilometres that GO owns also undergo a similar inspection.”
Ontario’s official opposition says Metrolinx shouldn’t be the ones probing Metrolinx’s problems, callling for a public inquiry into the incident.
“How much is out there, that are safety concerns or worse, that we don’t know about,” NDP transit critic Tom Rakocevic tells CityNews. “The taxpayers, the transit riders, we all deserve transparency in this. It’s time for a public inquiry”
CityNews reached out to Ontario’s transportation minister for comment, but have yet to receive a response.
No injuries were reported at the time of the derailment, and Metrolinx said it would issue automatic fare refunds to some GO train riders after the derailment caused major delays.
Files from Brandon Choghri were used in this report
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