The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) released a report today detailing how human error and insufficient verification processes contributed to a train collision involving Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) near Campbell Creek, British Columbia, in December 2022. The incident, which did not result in any injuries, involved a CP freight train and an unoccupied hi-rail vehicle.
According to the report, the incident occurred when a CP track supervisor, who was inspecting the Shuswap Subdivision, mistakenly cancelled the wrong electronic track occupancy permit (TOP), leaving the track unprotected. The supervisor, who had been using a hi-rail vehicle for inspection, noticed a defect and subsequently requested a second permit to conduct repairs on the south main track. However, in an error attributed to a lack of multi-layer verification in CP’s system, the supervisor inadvertently cancelled the south track permit, leaving it vulnerable to oncoming train traffic.
“The lack of a multi-layer verification procedure allowed the track supervisor to cancel the wrong permit, resulting in the collision,” the TSB report states.
Following the incident, the TSB issued Rail Safety Advisory Letter 04/23 to CP in April 2023, advising the railway to enhance verification measures when cancelling electronic TOPs. The advisory highlighted that procedures for electronic TOP cancellations were less stringent than those for radio-based cancellations, which require additional verification steps.
In response to the advisory, CP reported implementing several safety actions, including enhancements to its electronic application aimed at preventing similar errors in the future.