May 3, 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

Year

Total

Location

Uncontrolled Movements Involving Dangerous Goods

Main Track

Non Main Track

Yard

2013

No Data available

2014

No Data available

2015

51

2

11

38

10

2016

62

5

9

48

18

2017

66

4

15

47

14

2018

78

3

21

54

15

2019

50

3

13

33

9

2020

58

1

12

45

14