Canadian National Railway Routinely Does Not Report Derailments

Recent comments by Canadian National Railway public affairs spokespeople confirm concerns expressed in the past by the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada that CN routinely does not report derailments.

Emily Hamer of CN recently responded to a question by the media why the public was not informed of a derailment in Regina by saying it is not CN’s practice to release derailment information unless asked by the media (CJME). She also said findings from CN investigations into derailments are generally not released.

Jim Feeny of CN recently told the Edson Leader that derailments are not uncommon and are often not reported by CN.

Such under-reporting of derailments by Canadian National Railway certainly has an impact on the perceived safety record of the rail giant, and on its stock performance. It would be interesting to know how existing and prospective shareholders of CN stock would respond if they were made aware of the actual number of derailments, spills and other accidents incurred by the corporation.

CN is currently being sued by several parties for allegedly manipulating data to improve safety and productivity statistics and for allegedly misleading shareholders.

Railroaded has just updated the document CN Railway Derailments, Other Accidents and Incidents which provides a small sample of the number of CN derailments in Canada and the United States.

~ by railroaded on August 27, 2014.