Rail Safety Statistics at a Glance
March 8, 2021
Overview of Canadian Rail Industry
- Regulated railways: 70 companies currently hold a Railway Operating Certificate (including 26 federal railways and 44 regional – or shortline railways)
- Track: 41,711 kilometres of track fall under federal jurisdiction
- Equipment: 253,000 units of rolling stock
- Operations: 4,500 operating crews
- Crossings: 23,000 grade crossings (approx. 14,000 public and 9,000 private grade crossings)
- Signals: 9,473 signalized communication systems
- Railway Bridges: 6,800 (5600 railway bridges and 1200 vehicular bridges)
Rail Safety Resources
- Human Resources: 155 inspector positions which is an increase from 101 inspector positions in 2013
- Financial resources: $23.8 M for Headquarters and the Regions which is an increase from $15.6M in 2013
Transport Canada’s Inspection/Audit Activities
Year |
Inspections Completed |
SMS Audits Completed |
2013 |
34415 |
No data available |
2014 |
35728 |
0 |
2015 |
37652 |
0 |
2016 |
31290 |
26 |
2017 |
33592 |
26 |
2018 |
38231 |
32 |
2019 |
40581 |
19 |
2020 |
36388 (planned) |
30 (planned) |
Transportation Safety Board Statistics
Number of Occurrences
Occurrences |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
ACCIDENTS |
1093 |
1045 |
1040 |
895 |
1084 |
1166 |
1253 |
962 |
INCIDENTS |
223 |
405 |
368 |
299 |
233 |
283 |
240 |
226 |
Grand Total |
1316 |
1450 |
1408 |
1194 |
1317 |
1449 |
1493 |
1188 |
Fatalities, Serious Injuries and Minor Injuries
Casualties |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
Fatalities |
124 |
56 |
46 |
66 |
75 |
57 |
71 |
58 |
Serious Injuries |
39 |
53 |
50 |
56 |
65 |
91 |
65 |
38 |
Minor Injuries |
89 |
55 |
42 |
53 |
43 |
32 |
52 |
30 |
Grand Total |
252 |
164 |
138 |
175 |
183 |
180 |
188 |
126 |
Fatalities, Serious Injuries, and Minor Injuries by Cause
Cause |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
Crossing Accidents |
122 |
81 |
56 |
74 |
61 |
75 |
92 |
58 |
Trespassing |
56 |
56 |
51 |
69 |
80 |
70 |
55 |
57 |
Other |
74 |
27 |
31 |
32 |
42 |
35 |
41 |
11 |
Grand Total |
252 |
164 |
138 |
175 |
183 |
180 |
188 |
126 |
Uncontrolled Movements