Canada’s Transportation Safety Board recommended Transport Canada work with railroads on a system to spot deteriorating wheels using wheel-impact data, after a shattered-rim failure caused a 2023 Alberta derailment despite multiple visual inspections.
On April 5, 2023, 18 of the 104 cars in a Canadian National grain train derailed near Uncas, Alberta. The train was traveling from Humboldt, Saskatchewan, to the Port of Prince Rupert in British Columbia; no injuries were reported.
Railways assess WILD readings separately, not trends over time, the TSB said, so rapidly deteriorating wheels may escape detection. The wheel had an impact reading that met industry and CN removal thresholds and was scheduled for removal in Edmonton, but failed en route; its peak impact forces rose at successive sites. An exploratory analysis of this derailment and three others involving broken rims found trend-based review of existing data could identify at-risk wheels earlier. Made in 1991, the failed wheel predated 2003 steel-cleanliness standards. The board says older wheels may be more vulnerable, and no proactive replacement strategy exists.
