LOCATION: National
ISSUE/SOURCE: Summary of rail safety and security oversight and outreach / TRAN
DATE: September 2024
SUGGESTED RESPONSES
- Transport Canada is committed to enhancing the safety and security of the rail industry for the public, rail industry personnel, property, and the environment.
- The department administers and oversees a robust rail safety and security regulatory regime. This includes conducting approximately 40,000 rail safety inspections and 800 rail security inspections every year.
- Transport Canada is also continuously strengthening and modernizing regulations and rules to improve safety and security in the rail industry. This includes:
- lowering operating speeds in metropolitan areas for trains carrying dangerous goods;
- strengthening train securement requirements to reduce the risk of uncontrolled movements;
- mandating the use of locomotive voice and video recorders;
- requiring thicker steel on cars carrying flammable material; and
- introducing new rules around brakes, fatigue, rest, and fire risk mitigation.
- Transport Canada is advancing work on Bill C-33 — Strengthening the Port System and Railway Safety in Canada (amendments to various Acts), which introduces amendments to the Railway Safety Act, including:
- Adding a broad definition of "safety" to the Railway Safety Act that includes security to ensure that a broad range of the existing powers, regulatory authorities, and enforcement tools-that can be exercised in relation to safety-are now available to address emerging security concerns;
- Introducing Assurances of Compliance, prior to issuance of an Administrative Monetary Penalty (AMP), and Compliance Agreements (following issuance of an AMP);
- Improving transparency and efficiency of rule-making processes;
- Introducing new prohibitions related to unruly or dangerous behaviour on-board trains or at stations, and unlawful interference with railway operations;
- Creating the authority to require railway companies to create security management systems and allow the Minister to take corrective measures for deficiencies meeting security requirements; and
- Creating the authority for the Minister to grant, cancel and suspend transportation security clearances.
- Since 2013, Transport Canada has increased its total number of rail safety oversight personnel by 42% (from 107 to 155).
IF PRESSED
- The department is committed to reviewing Recommendation #20 of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities report, entitled: Railway Safety and the Effects of Railway Operations on the Surrounding Communities in Which They Operate, that pertains to the jurisdiction of private railway police in investigations involving their companies, as well as the potential implications on requirements found in the Railway Safety Act.