Regulatory area
Closing Summary
The 2016-2017 Canada-US Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) Work Plan for Rail Safety is now closed. The U.S. Federal Railroad Administration (US FRA) and Transport Canada (TC) will continue the work collaboratively on development and policy direction on key standards related to rail safety. The Locomotive Voice and Video Recorder Regulations was published on August 23, 2020, and will come into force on September 2, 2022. The review of the Rules Respecting Track Safety is in progress, with the first phase coming into effect on February 1, 2022. The new Duty and Rest Period Rules for Railway Operating Employees were approved in November 2020, with a phased-in compliance approach. Review and development of regulatory requirements for fatigue management systems and amendments to the Railway Employee Qualification Standards Regulations are in progress.
Regulatory area to be addressed
Rail Safety
Leverage respective expertise and lessons learned to harmonize the rail safety regimes to the greatest extent possible.
Plans updated to reflect progress and new areas of work for 2016.
Work stream A
Coordinate and collaborate on the development of key regulatory standards in both Canada and in the U.S. The standards under development include the following: fatigue management, the installation of video and voice recorders in locomotive cabs, improved track safety rules in both jurisdictions, and training regimes.
Department/Agency
United States
Canada
Federal Railroad Administration
Transport Canada
Initiative A: Consultation on Development of Key Standards
| # | Planned initiatives and sub-deliverables | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | TC to attend the FRA’s Railroad Safety Advisory Committee ( RSAC ) which includes representatives from both industry and unions, including participation in relevant RSAC Working Groups on specific topics of mutual interest. | Semi-annual |
| 2 | FRA to attend TC’s Advisory Council on Railway Safety ( ACRS ) which includes representatives from industry and unions, as well as other stakeholders such as the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. | Semi-annual |
| 3 | Quarterly TC-FRA Senior Management Meeting which sees agency-to-agency consultations on matters related to railway safety. | On-going |
| 4 | Continue TC-FRA and key rail safety stakeholder discussions through informal channels of communication. | On-going |
Initiative B: Establish Policy Direction on Key Standards
| # | Planned initiatives and sub-deliverables | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | In-cab recordings: Continue to work jointly to mutually inform policy direction on in-cab locomotive video and voice recorders. Any policy direction will be pursued in tandem and chronologically, where possible. | Winter 2016/17 |
| 2 | Fatigue Management: Continue to work jointly to mutually inform policy direction on work/rest rules and fatigue science. Any policy direction will be pursued in tandem and chronologically, where possible. | Spring 2017 |
| 3 | Track Safety: Collaborate and consult to develop updated standards for track safety rules. | Fall 2017 |
| 4 | Training Requirements: Collaborate on developments regarding training and qualification requirements for employees. | Summer 2017 |