An investigation has been launched after a collision between two trains on Tuesday evening in northeast Montreal, not far from the Saint-Léonard–Montréal-Nord station. No one was injured during the event, but train services were affected.
Published at 9:05 p.m. Updated at 9:24 p.m.
It was a Canadian National (CN) train that, for reasons still unknown, collided with an Exo commuter train that was stopped on the Mascouche route. CN said by email that evening that “initial information indicates that there were no serious injuries or dangerous goods involved in the incident.”
In short, the trains would not have derailed in the collision. However, the cause of the incident will be the subject of an internal investigation, said the organization’s spokesman, Jonathan Abecassis.
“Local first responders and CN teams are on scene. We will keep you updated on developments as soon as we have further information. CN would like to apologize for the impact of the incident,” Mr. Abecassis continued.
A team of investigators from the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) will also be on site in the coming days to collect information, the organization announced in the evening.
For its part, Exo assured that the train crew and passengers of the Exo train had been attended to by the emergency services, reiterating that it was still too early to determine the cause of the collision.
Several trains were canceled
The impact on operations was quickly felt on Tuesday: all trains on the Mascouche Line were canceled for the remainder of the evening of November 21st. According to our information, a VIA Rail train en route to Montreal also had to disembark passengers at Rivière-des-Prairies because the tracks were inaccessible.
“Users were supported by taxi services and shuttle buses so that they could complete their journey to their destination this evening,” Exo spokesman Jean-Maxime St-Hilaire said on the matter.
For its part, the Montreal Police Service (SPVM) confirmed that it intervened to ensure citizens’ access and exit to the station.
An investigation was also launched in mid-August to determine the exact cause of the derailment of a wagon and two locomotives on a freight train. The event then occurred at the end of the day in the Old Port of Montreal.