Flooding washes out CN rail line in northern Alberta
Crews monitoring the area near Indian Cabins, Alta., company spokesperson says
CN Rail is monitoring a washout on the rail line south of Indian Cabins, Alta., a company spokesperson says.
Images posted on Monday to the Facebook group Northern Alberta - Fire and Flood & Storm Report show a train track with the ground below washed out, reportedly in an area south of Indian Cabins. The community is 15 kilometres from the N.W.T.-Alberta border.
The rail line is an essential supply route for transporting goods to the North, including materials that are shipped by barge in the summer to N.W.T. communities along the Mackenzie River and into the Western Arctic.
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/flooding?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#flooding</a> <a href="https://t.co/PUYpQghwLb">pic.twitter.com/PUYpQghwLb</a>
—@gabesimagesThe washout is being "safely inspected and monitored by ground crews," wrote CN Rail spokesperson Tyler Banick in an email to CBC News.
The area will be monitored by the company in the coming days to determine when the rail line could reopen.
"CN would like to thank our partners for their assistance in providing equipment, supplies and people to address the high-water events impacting CN infrastructure. Our thoughts are with those affected in the communities by the recent overland flooding," wrote Banick.
With files from Hannah Paulson