Homes evacuated after Port Hope train derailment
Posted March 27, 2011 2:39 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Several people were forced to leave their homes in Port Hope Sunday after a CN trail derailment in the area.
Twenty cars of the CN Rail freight train jumped the track at 12:20 p.m. Two cars were carrying jet fuel, another two were carrying residual petroleum, one residual sulphuric acid and one was hauling propane.
Flames burned for about an hour after the accident and authorities evacuated homes in the surrounding 1.6-kilometre area, bordered by Hamilton Township and Lake Ontario to the north and south, and Hamilton Road and Theatre Road South to the west and east. The OPP said the evacuation order affected about 20 people.
No injuries were reported.
Officials from CN Rail and the Ministry of the Environment remained at the scene Monday and are working to determine the cause of the derailment.
A Union Gas line was also severed in the crash. As a result, the rail line is being temporarily closed. VIA Rail has said it won’t be able to operate their train service on the Toronto-Montreal or Toronto-Ottawa routes.
They will be providing buses for existing reservations.
