No. P006/05
For release - November 4, 2005
VANCOUVER — Transport Minister Jean-C. Lapierre, today announced a Notice and Order has been issued to the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) to limit the length of their conventional trains to 80 cars while operating northbound between Squamish and Clinton, B.C.
"I am very concerned about the recent CN derailments in British Columbia and that's why we are ordering CN to restrict the length of their conventional trains in the Squamish area as a precautionary measure, " said Mr. Lapierre. "I am also concerned about CN's overall safety performance and I have written to senior officials at CN to express those concerns. I've made it clear if corrective actions aren't taken by the company I could call a public inquiry into CN's operations."
The severity and frequency of recent CN derailments have led Transport Canada to undertake a targeted inspection and safety review of CN to determine the company's level of compliance with the Railway Safety Act and associated rules, regulations and standards. The targeted CN inspection was conducted nationally between August 22, 2005 and September 16, 2005, and covered railway equipment, operations and infrastructure, including track.
Deficiencies and incidences of non-compliance were identified and conveyed to CN on September 27, 2005. CN is actively addressing the immediate concerns and an action plan has been developed to address other issues identified during the targeted inspection and safety review. Transport Canada is currently reviewing this corrective action plan.
The results of the targeted inspection, safety review and audit of CN's safety management systems will be made public following the completion of the safety management systems audit, expected in early December 2005.
Today's Notice and Order also requires CN to provide Transport Canada with a detailed analysis of their distributed power operated train operations in the Squamish area and a comprehensive risk assessment of any changes CN has made to BC Rail's operating instructions. The analysis and assessment will focus on train length, equipment, track conditions and speed.
Locomotives at the front of the train pull the rail cars in a conventional train. A distributed power operated train has locomotives at the front of the train as well as in the body of the train to push and pull the rail cars. This distributes power and traction more equally throughout the length of the train.
On August 5, 2005 a CN train derailed at a bridge over the Cheakamus River, north of Squamish, B.C. A tank car loaded with Sodium Hydroxide spilled into the Cheakamus River and six other cars derailed. On October 24, 2005 nine empty CN flat cars derailed in the same general area. Yesterday, 10 empty CN cars derailed just north of Sunset Beach in the Sea-to-Sky corridor.
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) is currently investigating the derailments to determine the cause. Transport Canada is closely following the TSB's ongoing investigation through a Minister's Observer who was appointed after the accidents. The Minister's Observer will advise the department of any significant regulatory factors and will identify deficiencies that may require immediate corrective action.
In response to the October 24th CN derailment Transport Canada issued CN a Notice and Order on October 27th restricting certain freight train operational activities in the Squamish area. Today's Notice and Order further restricts CN's operations in the interest of public safety. A Notice and Order is issued under Section 31 of the Railway Safety Act, when in the opinion of a Transport Canada railway safety inspector, there is an immediate threat to safe railway operations.
As the railway regulator, Transport Canada is responsible under the Railway Safety Act for promoting, monitoring and enforcing compliance with existing rules and regulations. The department has a regular inspection program in place as well as a mechanism to audit railway infrastructure, equipment and methods of operation to ensure that rail companies comply with the Railway Safety Act.
Canada has one of the safest and largest rail networks in the world with 48,000 kilometres of track and over 40,000 railway crossings. Transport Canada takes very seriously any incident or accident that affects the transportation system.
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Contacts:
Rod NelsonCommunicationsTransport Canada, Vancouver(604) 666-1675
Irène MarcheterreDirector of CommunicationsOffice of the Minister of Transport, Ottawa(613) 991-0700
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