Canadian Pacific freight train cars derail in Franklin Park

Two Canadian Pacific Railway freight train cars derailed in Franklin Park on Sunday afternoon. No one was injured, the company said, and the tracks were cleared within hours.

About 12:45 p.m., two cars, one carrying wheat and the other empty, came off the tracks. A spokesperson for the company said there were no injuries or risks to public safety.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

“CP personnel moved the rest of the train and cleared all crossings,” CP said in an email Sunday afternoon.

The train derailed on the Milwaukee District West Line, which caused a 15-minute delay for a Metra train.

“Teams are on site assessing in coordination with Metra,” CP said.

The cause of the derailment is under investigation.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Following a series of freight train incidents this year, including a derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, state and federal lawmakers have called for stronger rail safety measures.

When the federal government approved the acquisition of Kansas City Southern by Canadian Pacific for $31 billion this month, several elected officials were critical of the decision and said it will slow commuter rail service, impede first responders and risk people’s lives.

According to Frank DeSimone, village president of Bensenville, the railroad merger would increase the number of daily freight trains from three to 11, raising freight traffic in the community by 400%.

“They ignored our concerns for safety, they ignored our concerns for quality of life and they ignored our concerns about the negative consequences for economic development,” DeSimone said at a news conference at the time.

The bipartisan Railway Safety Act of 2023, which is being championed by Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and JD Vance, a Republican, includes requirements that trains have crews of at least two people, expands the classification for highly hazardous flammable trains and increases fines for safety violations.

“The bottom line is that what happened in East Palestine could have just as easily happened in Illinois,” Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth said at a Senate hearing last week.

Contributing: Associated Press