Amendment to Order pursuant to Section 19 of the Railway Safety Act (MO 16-02.1)

MO 16-02.1

Paragraph 19(1)(a) of the Railway Safety Act ( RSA ) gives the Minister of Transport the authority to order a railway company or a local railway company to formulate rules respecting any matter referred to in subsection 18(1) or (2.1) or to revise its rules respecting that matter.

Pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 19(1)(a) of the RSA , on June 1, 2016, the Minister issued Ministerial Order 16-02, requiring the companies listed in Appendix A to submit a revised Canadian Rail Operating Rules ( CROR ) by removing Rules 103(d) and 103.1(e) of the  CROR

The Minister has decided to extend the date for filing said rules by 90 days for the companies listed in Appendix A to allow for further consultation with Transport Canada.

Pursuant to paragraph 19(1)(a) of the RSA, all railway companies and local railway companies listed in Appendix A are hereby ordered to revise the CROR by removing Rules 103(d) and 103.1(e) from the  CROR .

The rules shall be filed with the Minister of Transport for review and possible approval on or before November 28, 2016. 

This Order shall supersede and replace MO 16-02.

Susan Archer
Director General, Rail Safety

August 15, 2016
Date

Appendix A

  • 6970184 Canada Ltd.
  • Agence métropolitaine de transport
  • Amtrak
  • Battle River Railway
  • Big Sky Railway Operated by Last Mountain Railway
  • Boundary Trail Railway Company, Inc.
  • Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co.
  • Canadian National Railway Company
  • Canadian Pacific Railway Company
  • Cando Rail Services Ltd.
  • Cando Rail Services Ltd.
  • Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway Ltd.
  • Capital Railway
  • Carlton Trail Railway Company
  • Central Maine & Québec Railway Canada Inc.
  • Central Manitoba Railway Inc.
  • Chemin de fer de Québec Gatineau
  • Chemin de fer Orford Express Inc.
  • Chemin de fer Roberval Saguenay (Rio Tinto Alcan)
  • Chemin de fer Sartigan
  • CSX Transportation, Inc.
  • Eastern Maine Railway
  • Essar Steel Algoma
  • Goderich-Exeter Railway Company Limited
  • Great Canadian Railtour Company Ltd.
  • Great Sandhills Railway
  • Great Western Railway, Ltd.
  • Hudson Bay Railway Company
  • Huron Central Railway Inc.
  • Huron Central Railway Inc.
  • Kamloops Heritage Railway Society
  • Keewatin Railway Company
  • Kettle Falls International Railway Company
  • Knob Lake and Timmins Railway Inc.
  • Koch Fertilizer Canada ULC
  • Lake Line Railway Company
  • Last Mountain Railway (101115529 Saskatchewan Ltd.)
  • Logistec Stevedoring (Nova Scotia) Inc. also carrying on business as Sydney Coal Railway
  • Metrolinx (GO Transit)
  • Nipissing Central Railway Company
  • Norfolk Southern Railway Company
  • Northwood Pulp Mill Canfor
  • Ontario Northland
  • Ontario Southland Railway Inc.
  • Ontario Southland Railway Inc.
  • Port Colborne Railway (Part of Trillium)
  • Port Stanley Terminal Railway Incorporated
  • Prairie Rail Solutions Ltd.
  • Prudential Steel ULC
  • Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway Company
  • RaiLink Canada Ltd.
  • RailServe
  • Rio Tinto Alcan
  • RTK WP2 Canada Inc.
  • Société du chemin de fer de la Gaspésie
  • Southern Ontario Locomotive Restoration Society
  • Southern Rails Cooperative Ltd.
  • Southern Railway of British Columbia (and Southern Railway of Vancouver Island Limited)
  • St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad (Quebec) Inc.
  • Stewart Southern Railway
  • The Essex Terminal Railway Company
  • The Toronto Terminals Railway Company Limited
  • Thunder Rail Ltd.
  • Torch River Rail Inc.
  • Trillium Railway
  • Tshiuetin Rail Transportation Inc.
  • Union Pacific Railroad Company
  • VIA Rail Canada Inc.
  • West Coast Express Ltd.
  • West Coast Railway Association
  • White Pass and Yukon Route
  • York-Durham Heritage Railway Association

Addendum

This is further to our letter dated June 1, 2016 and Ministerial Order (MO) 16-02 issued pursuant to paragraph 19(1)(a) of the Railway Safety Act,which ordered the companies listed in the attached Appendix to submit a revised Canadian Rail Operating Rules (CROR) by removing Rules 103(d) and 103.1(e) of the CROR. 

The MO indicated that your submission was required to be filed within 90 days from the date of the letter, on or before August 30, 2016.

Transport Canada (TC) has decided to extend the date for filing said rules by 90 days, to allow for further consultation.  In this regard, please find enclosed a revised MO 16-02.1, which amends the previous version and allows the companies listed in Appendix A to file said rules with TC on or before November 28, 2016.

As noted in our original MO, the requested change is necessary to rectify a duplication of legal requirements found in both the CROR and the Grade Crossings
Regulations
(GCR).  TC does not view this as an operational change pursuant to subsections 15(1), 49(1), or 76(1) of the Railway Safety Management System Regulations, 2015 since the requirement for blocked crossings has not been removed from the regulatory regime, but exists in Section 97 of the GCR. Finally, current exemptions to Rules 103(d) or 103.1(e) of the CROR will remain in effect.

Should you have any questions regarding the regulatory process, please contact Ms. Susan Archer, Director, Regulatory Affairs at (613) 990-8690 or susan.archer@tc.gc.ca, or if you would like to discuss technical aspects of this issue, please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Stephanie Lines, Director, Operations Management at (613) 990-7745 or stephanie.lines@tc.gc.ca.