A Canadian Pacific (CP) railway spokesman told council a broken rail caused the August 2010 train derailment.
Three farms were evacuated for four days as a result of the derailment, which took place one kilometre north of Airdrie.
Twelve cars were involved, with a second block of cars derailing because of the force at the primary site.
Nothing was spilled and no one was injured in the incident.
As a direct result of the accident, CP is implementing a number of safety enhancements including adding an extra ultrasonic track inspection every year, bringing the total to seven.
Mark Seland, CP’s general manager of corporate communications and public affairs, also said CP will inspect any piece of suspect rail, which is less than three feet in length, by hand. Section of rail over that length will be flagged and looked at frequently.
According to Seland, the company reimbursed any expenses related to the derailment to the City of Airdrie, businesses and private citizens.
The company will continue to discuss making a donation to enhance Airdrie’s emergency preparedness plan.
“CP takes public, employee… safety very seriously,” said Seland.
