Cleanup underway, line reopens, after train derailment near Cranbrook, B.C.

Signage is pictured at a Canadian Pacific Kansas City rail yard in Smiths Falls, Ont., Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Cleanup work is underway after 12 rail cars of a Canadian Pacific Kansas City train derailed about 16 kilometres east of Cranbrook, B.C.

CPKC said Saturday that the derailment occurred in a remote area of the Regional District of East Kootenay in southern B.C., and a preliminary assessment showed about 12 cars were involved, including some carrying wood products and three tanker cars carrying propane. 

CPKC says in an update Sunday that repairs to the track are finished and the corridor has reopened to railway traffic following safety inspections. 

The Ministry of Environment and Parks says most rail cars involved in the incident contained non-dangerous goods, and it notes that lumber from one broken rail car entered the Kootenay River. 

It says one propane tank car, located on land, had been reported to be leaking, and the railway says the propane cars, including the leaking one, were repositioned by a dangerous goods team on Sunday to be safely offloaded in the coming days.

The ministry says there were no fatalities or injuries reported from the derailment. 

The railway company says the cause of the derailment is still under investigation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2025.