Mar 13, 2014 in News Rail Accidents

Rail Accidents: Transport Canada needs to improve its railway oversight

[caption id="attachment_6036" align="alignright" width="300"] (Photo credit: fcl1971/SXC)[/caption] Railways continue to dominate Canadian news headlines as a CN Rail train derailed in Plaster Rock, N.B., after leaving Toronto. Luckily no one was hurt, but about 50 residents were evacuated from a two-kilometre evacuation zone. Investigators were also forced to wait two days before approaching the derailment area since the crash site was too dangerous. Officials recently decided to conduct a controlled burn, which is when explosives are used to help extinguish the fire. The derailment and fire happened at the end cars of the train, a CN Rail spokesperson told CBC. There were 19 derailed cars with five carrying crude oil and four carrying liquefied petroleum gas. Initial investigations show that the derailment might have been caused by a wheel failure or an issue with the wheel-axle, which led the first car to derail. An audit conducted by the Auditor General of Canada before the Lac-M?gantic train disaster found that Transport Canada's oversight of railway companies shows "significant weaknesses". Currently, rail companies are responsible for the safety of day-to-day operations and Transport Canada's role is to ensure that these systems are functioning. In the last three years, only 14 audits were conducted out of 31 federally regulated railways with eight of these done on the largest operators. Some of the issues identified in the report include:

• Transport Canada has not fully integrated an assessment of the federal railways' safety management into its oversight planning activities.


• The department needs to improve the guidance and tools it provides inspectors when they're assessing railway safety management systems


• Transport Canada needs to assess whether its current workforce is sufficient to oversee the safety of federal railway management


• The department needs to create a quality assurance plan aimed at continuously improving its rail safety oversight

The government is hoping to improve rail safety by announcing a new railway directive that requires rail companies to inform cities when they're passing by with dangerous goods. Also, Canada's rail industry is looking into improving the safety of the most common model of oil tankers (DOT-111), which carries safer goods such as canola oil to moderate or highly dangerous goods such as crude oil, liquid petroleum and ethanol. This model is known to puncture and leak during crashes, according to a rail consultant, which is what happened during the Lac-M?gantic train disaster and the Plaster Rock derailment. The government has proposed regulations for new DOT-111 tank cars, which requires them to be built with thicker steel requirements and additional top fitting and head shield protection. But this doesn't require older models to be retrofitted or retired. Meanwhile, CN announced it will invest $10 million into a safety program that will focus on detecting equipment defects, such as hot bearings, hot wheels and hot equipment. They will also monitor the positioning, curvature and alignment of tracks with a new test car and identify defects with an optical track inspection system. Personal damages resulting from a train derailment is a part of personal injury law. At Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers, we have over 40 years of experience in handling all types of accidents. We know the impacts injuries have on your life and your family's and we know how to help you. Call us at 416-920-4242. Set up a free consultation and come talk with us.