© Dan Riedlhuber/ReutersInvestigators survey the site of a train derailment near Gainford, Alta., west of Edmonton, on Oct. 20, 2013. About 100 people were forced to evacuate their homes after the derailment, which resulted in two explosions.
Nine blackened tankers are scattered around the site. Part of the rail is mangled, warped, and burned black.
A train carrying propane and crude that crashed in the hamlet of Gainford, Alta., early Saturday morning is once again raising questions about the safety of moving oil by rail in Canada, particularly in the wake of July's fatal rail disaster in Lac-Mégantic, Que. No one was hurt in Gainford, but it was Canadian National Railway Co.'s third notable derailment in the past month involving hazardous materials, and it caused explosions and fire on both sides of a four-line highway.
Alberta's oil industry is a key reason rail has become a popular shipping method. As oil-sands production climbs, the amount of available space on North America's pipeline network declines. The province's energy industry could stall if shipping by rail came off the table.
"The system is safe," Federal Transport Minister Lisa Raitt said in an interview Saturday. "Although we will see derailments, we've never seen an accident or an incident like Lac-Mégantic, that's for sure. But the system is safe.
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