Part I – General

1. Short title

These Rules may be cited as the Track Safety Rules (TSR).

2. Interpretation

In these Rules:

• “continuous welded rail” (CWR) is rail welded into lengths of 400 ft (121.920 m) or more; (long rail soudé),
• “crossover” means a track joining adjacent main tracks, or a main track and another track; (liaison)
• “deviation requiring a one class speed reduction” means any measured deviation that exceeds the limits of the current class of track but does not exceed the limits of the class of track that is one class below the current class of track; (écart nécessitant une limitation de vitesse correspondant à une catégorie de voie inférieure)
• “deviation requiring a two class speed reduction” means any measured deviation that exceeds both the limits of the current class of track and the limits of the class of track that is one class below the current class of track; (écart nécessitant une limitation de vitesse correspondant à deux catégories de voie inférieures)
• “inactive track” means a track used less than once per month and secured in a manner that will prevent use by train or movements; (voie inactive)
• “key route” is as defined in the Rules Respecting Key Trains and Key Routes; (itinéraire clé)
• “line of track” or “track" means a railway of any length including yard tracks, sidings, spurs and other tracks auxiliary thereto, and including the right-of-way and the structures supporting or protecting the track or facilitating drainage from the track; (voie)"
• “movement(s)” the term used in these Rules to indicate that the rule is applicable to trains, equipment, transfers or engines in yard service; (mouvement(s))
• “quality assurance (QA)” means a systemic set of activities carried out by a QA personnel to verify that the work is done in accordance with the railway company’s standards and procedures, and in compliance with the TSR; (assurance de la qualité ).
• “QA personnel” is a track inspector, track supervisor or a professional engineer, who is not directly involved in performing the maintenance and repair work; (member du personnel responsible de l’AQ);
• “railway company" means a railway company that is under the jurisdiction of the Railway Safety Act; (compagnie de chemin de fer)
• "railway crossing" means the crossing of two tracks; (traversée)
• “siding,” means a track adjacent and connected to the main track, which is so designated in the timetable, GBO or operating bulletin; (voie d’évitement)
• “track inspector” means a person certified in this capacity in accordance with Part I, subsections 7.1 to 7.5; (inspecteur de la voie)
• “track supervisor” means a person certified in this capacity in accordance with Part I, subsections 7.1 to 7.5; (superviseur de la voie)
• “yard” means a system of non-main tracks, utilized to switch equipment and for other purposes over which movements may operate subject to prescribed signals, rules and special instructions; (triage)
• “yard track” means a track unclassified or classified as category 1, 2, 3 or 4 for inspection purposes (voie de triage).

3. Scope

• 3.1 These Rules prescribe minimum safety requirements for federally regulated standard gauge railway track.
• 3.2 The Rules specify the limits of certain track conditions existing in isolation. A combination of track conditions, none of which individually amounts to a deviation from the requirements in these Rules may require remedial action to provide for safe operations over the track
• 3.3 A railway may adopt additional or more stringent requirements than those contained in these Rules.

4. Application

• 4.1 These Rules apply to all federally regulated railway companies operating on standard gauge track.
• 4.2 The purpose of these Rules is to ensure the safe operation of movements on standard gauge track owned by, operated on or used by a railway company.
• 4.3 Railway wishing to operate movements at speeds greater than Class 5 track must have a plan approved by the minister.

5. Excepted track

• 5.1 A railway company may designate a segment of track as Excepted Track provided that:
  1. The segment is identified in the timetable, special instructions, general order, or other appropriate records that are available for inspection during regular business hours;
  2. The identified segment is not located within 30 feet (9.144 m) of an adjacent track which can be subjected to simultaneous use at speeds in excess of 10 miles per hour;
  3. The identified segment is inspected in accordance with the frequency specified for Class 1 track;
  4. The identified segment of track is not located on a bridge including the track approaching the bridge for 100 feet (30.480 m) on either side, or located on a public street or highway;
  5. The railway conducts operations on the identified segment under the following conditions:
     1. no movements shall be operated at speeds in excess of 10 miles per hour, and
     2. no occupied passenger train nor movements carrying dangerous goods shall be operated, and
     3. the railway company shall advise Transport Canada within 10 days of designating a segment of track as “excepted track”.
     4. The gauge on excepted track shall not be more than 58 1/4".
     5. When a railway company designates a segment of track as “excepted track”, operations may continue over that segment of track without complying with the provisions of Subparts B, C, and D of Part II of the TSR.
     6. The railway company shall advise Transport Canada prior to removing the status of “excepted track.”
     7. On annual basis, track designated as “excepted track” must be re-evaluated by the railway company and a risk assessment report indicating that the track is safe for operations shall be provided to Transport Canada. The status of the track must also be confirmed in the report.

6. Responsibility of the railway company

• 6.1 The railway company shall ensure that track inspections are undertaken at such frequency and by such a method as to ensure the line of track is compliant with the TSR and is safe for all movements at the authorized speed.
• 6.2 Where a line of track is not in compliance with the requirements of these Rules, the railway company shall immediately:
  1. Bring the line of track into compliance; or
  2. Halt operations over that line of track.
• 6.3 Notwithstanding subsection 6.2, in the case of Class 1 track that is not in compliance with these Rules, the railway company may operate on that line of track under the authority of a track supervisor for not more than 30 days. Subsection 6.3 does not apply where defective rails are involved. Part II, Subpart D section III (Defective Rails) of the TSR exclusively governs further operations over defective rails.
• When any person, including a contractor for a railway company, performs any function required by these Rules, that person is required to perform that function in accordance with these Rules.

7. Knowledge, qualifications and certification

A. Track Inspectors and Track Supervisors

• 7.1 Each railway company shall ensure that track inspectors and track supervisors are qualified and certified to inspect track for defects or supervise restoration or renewal of track under traffic conditions; and must develop and adhere to a documented certification process that demonstrates such qualification and certification. This certification process shall be made available upon request to Transport Canada.
• 7.2 Each railway company shall ensure that the certification process for track inspectors and track supervisors contains:
  1. minimum training requirements;
  2. requirements for minimum experience in railway track inspection and maintenance; and
  3. a process for demonstrating competency.
• 7.3 Each railway company shall ensure that track inspectors and track supervisors:
  1. know and understand the requirements of the TSR;
  2. know and understand the railway company's requirements, including procedures, and standards for track inspection and maintenance;
  3. can detect deviations from those requirements; and
  4. can prescribe appropriate remedial action to correct or safely compensate for those deviations.
• 7.4 Recertification of track inspectors and track supervisors must be completed at intervals not exceeding three years.
• 7.5 For each certified track inspector and each certified track supervisor, the railway company shall issue a certificate demonstrating that it is satisfied that each track inspector and track supervisor is qualified and certified.
• 7.6 A railway company shall maintain a record of each certificate issued and of each person who has been certified as track inspector or track supervisor. Records shall be made available, upon request, to Transport Canada.
• 7.7 If during a period of restoration or renewal, track is under traffic conditions and does not meet all of the requirements prescribed in these Rules, the work on the track shall be under the continuous supervision of a person certified as a Track Supervisor and subject to any limiting conditions specified by such a person.
  1. The term "continuous supervision" as used in this section means the physical presence of that person at a job site. However, since the work may be performed over a large area and it may not be possible for that person to visually supervise each segment of the work, in this case the person must be present at the job site, in direct control of the work and have direct knowledge of the condition of the track over which they permit movements to pass.
  2. When the designated person leaves the work site and before movements are authorized to operate over the affected segment, the track must be in compliance with the TSR

B. Track Maintenance and Repair Work

• 7.8 Each railway company shall ensure that persons performing maintenance and repair work have:
  1. knowledge of the relevant company standards and procedures for the work they are performing; and
  2. skills and abilities to perform the work.

C. A Person Authorizing Movements to Pass Over a Broken Rail

• 7.9 Each railway company shall ensure that a person authorizing movements to pass over a broken rail is qualified and certified:
  1. to identify rail end mismatch, rail defects, condition of track ties, track surface, gauge and alignment defects; and
  2. on the requirements of Part II, Subpart D section III (a) (2) of the TSR.
• 7.10 Each railway company must develop and adhere to a documented certification process that demonstrates such qualification and certification that contains:
  1. minimum training requirements;
  2. requirements for minimum experience in railway track maintenance, signal or train operations experience; and
  3. a process for demonstrating competency.
     This certification process shall be made available, upon request, to Transport Canada.
• 7.11 Recertification must be completed at intervals not exceeding three years.
• 7.12 For each person certified to authorize movements to pass over a broken rail, the railway company shall:
  1. issue a certificate demonstrating that it is satisfied that each person is qualified and certified; and
  2. maintain a record of each certificate issued and of each person who has been certified.  Records shall be made available, upon request, to Transport Canada.

8. Measuring track not under load

• 8.1 When unloaded track is measured to determine compliance with requirements of these Rules, the amount of rail movement which occurs while the track is loaded must be added to the measurements of the unloaded track.

9. Track maintenance and repair work

1. Track maintenance and repair work must be performed in accordance with the railway company's standards and procedures. Track must be compliant with the TSR after the work is performed.
2. Each railway company must identify and maintain a list of safety critical maintenance and repair activities. Railway companies must consider, as a minimum, the following in determining what constitutes a safety critical maintenance and repair activity:

   Such list shall be made available to Transport Canada upon request.

   1. derailment risk, if the work is not performed in accordance with railway company standards and procedures, and
   2. track related derailment occurrences.
3. For railway companies with a key route or track over which trains operate at Class 3 speed or higher the list of safety critical maintenance and repair activities under item 9 b) and any subsequent revision to the list must be approved by a professional engineer.
4. QA must be conducted by QA personnel for safety critical maintenance and repair activities.
5. Railway companies must establish and adhere to time limits for performing and documenting the QA. Such time limits shall be made available to Transport Canada upon request. For railway companies with a key route or track over which trains operate at Class 3 speed or higher, such time limits must be approved by a professional engineer.
6. Railway companies must maintain records, for a minimum of 1 year, to demonstrate that the requirements of items 9 d) and 9 e) above are being adhered to.