One of the most remembered train derailments in Canada occurred in Mississauga, Ont., on Nov. 10, 1979 when a 106-car Canadian Pacific freight train carrying explosive and dangerous chemicals left the tracks around midnight.
The wreck forced the evacuation of 218,000 people from the surrounding area.
Mississauga, with a population of about 284,000 at the time, became a virtual ghost town in the days that followed.
Nobody died as a result of the derailment.
Other derailments:
- Seven people were injured when a Via Rail train travelling to Halifax from Montreal in February 2010 derailed and struck a house near Quebec City.
- Two people died and 36 were injured on April 23, 1999 in Thamesville, Ont., when a VIA Rail passenger train hit an open switch, causing it to tip over and collide with cars full of ammonium nitrate.
- In February 1986, a Via Rail train collided with a CN freight train about 17 kilometres west of Hinton, Alta., killing 23 people. Another 71 people were injured in the crash that was eventually blamed on human error.
- On Sept. 1 1947, the Dugald disaster claimed 31 lives when two trains, one a tourist excursion train, collided head-on 14 kilometres east of Winnipeg. Human error was also blamed for this tragedy.
