Alcohol consumption played role in head-on crash between freight trains near Prescott, Ont.: TSB

(Steve/Adobe Stock)

The Transportation Safety Board says alcohol consumption played a role in a 2021 head-on crash between two freight trains that left several crew members injured and destroyed hundreds of feet of track in Prescott, Ontario.

The crash saw four locomotives and 16 cars derail after a C-N train heading west to Toronto crashed into another C-N train on a side track near Edward Street in the town of Prescott.

The safety board’s report says a manually operated switch connecting the side track to the mainline had been routed incorrectly and cites alcohol consumption by the rail traffic controller as a contributing factor in the crash.

Unlike aviation regulations in Canada, neither the Railway Safety Act nor its associated regulations currently prescribe a time period prohibiting the consumption of alcohol by employees before they assume their duties.

(Global News Toronto)