3 d. Qs&As – VIA 622 Incident

Qs&As – VIA 622 Incident

1. Safety management plans for railways
   1. Safety management plans for VIA RAIL
      • A total of 83 railway companies are regulated by Transport Canada under the Railway Safety Act. All are subject to the Railway Safety Management System (SMS) Regulations, though the requirements differ depending on the operating nature of the railway. VIA Rail, as a major federal railway company, must comply with all the SMS provisions, which include developing and implementing company-wide protocols to assess and mitigate safety risks. This system aims to achieve the highest level of safety, defined as the lowest acceptable level of risk, through risk management analysis. This analysis involves examining data trends to identify safety concerns, conducting risk assessments on those concerns, and taking remedial action. Some regionally based railway companies have more tailored SMS requirements that reflect their operational scope while maintaining essential safety standards.
      • SMS regulations are one component in a broader approach to safety. Passenger railways are subject to an extensive regulatory framework of rail safety and security requirements aimed to prevent injury or death of passengers, railway employees, and the public. This includes the Passenger Handling Safety Rules, which require passenger railways such as VIA Rail to conduct pre-departure safety checks on rail cars, and have operating procedures in place to keep passengers on-board safe during emergency or crisis situations. Railways must file their plan with Transport Canada and, at a minimum, it must contain measures and procedures related to:
      • Medical emergencies
      • On-board fires
      • Derailments or collisions
      • Passenger evacuation procedures
      • Incident recording and reporting
      • Passenger safety awareness procedures
      • Training for railway employees
      • Emergency communications; and
      • Safety equipment checks.
      • In addition, the Passenger Rail Transportation Security Regulations require passenger railways to conduct security inspections of rail cars before service each day to inspect for threats such as suspicious packages or tampering of equipment.
   2. What is the expectation for SITECEN notifications? In other words, what is the expectation for VIA Rail and other rail companies to communicate with Transport Canada when a crisis or delays occurs?
      • The Transport Canada Situation Centre (SitCen) provides 24/7 notifications to maintain situational awareness, ensure a safe and secure transportation system, and coordinate responses.
      • Railways, like other transportation operators, are obligated by regulation to report safety and security incidents and occurrences, which are distributed for information within TC by the SitCen. However, how and when operators report information that flows into TC can vary.
      • For rail, incidents such as derailments, collisions, trespassing incidents, and security threats are also reported in different ways. The SitCen’s standard operating procedures help officials to determine the level of criticality and the reporting level for the incident. These notifications can then be sent to TC decision-makers, transportation sector oversight teams, and key strategic partners at federal, provincial, and territorial levels.
      • The majority of rail incident information received by the SitCen originate from rail companies but are relayed through the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB). This was established to minimize dual reporting to multiple departments and agencies during a crisis. Occurrences such as a mechanical failures that do not pose a threat to safety as well as passenger delays are not reportable to the TSB under the Transportation Safety Board Regulations, and therefore this information does not come in through the standard process.
      • TC has been working to augment stable reporting in cases where the TSB is not involved. Following the Holiday 2022 incident with VIA, Transport Canada Rail Safety and Security worked with VIA to implement voluntary (i.e., over and above regulatory requirements) additional reporting into the SitCen to ensure situational awareness for the department of significant service disruptions or time delays. This protocol establishes criteria of incidents and a process to notify the department as soon as possible after becoming aware of a major customer service disruption affecting operations and/or passengers. The department is working with VIA Rail to update the protocol to ensure more timely and accurate communication with Transport Canada during these events, as per the Minister’s recent letter to VIA’s President.