Canadian rail boss sticks by one-man crew despite tragedy

The head of the company responsible for the train that derailed in Quebec last week, killing at least 37 people, has defended the use of the one-man crew.

The tragic incident occurred after a 73-car train rolled downhill towards a town in Quebec, derailing and causing numerous explosions and fires.

The railroad on which the crash took place is one of two in Canada with permission to operate with a one-man crew. But despite the devastating crash, the head of Rail World Inc, the company in charge of the train, said that he stands by the one-man system, saying that he thinks it’s actually safer than having two-man crews because there’s less chance of employee injury and less distraction.

Initial suggestions were that the air brakes are the blame for the crash and investigators are also looking into a fire that started in the locomotive after the engineer secured the brakes and left. The fire was extinguished not long before the train began rolling unmanned downhill.

A number of people are also facing charges of interfering with a police investigation after being arrested for sneaking into the restricted crash area with fake accreditation.