Reinforce railway safety.

What success looks like

Stronger railway safety regulations, improved communication with Canadians and rail infrastructure that is safer and in better condition, leading to fewer accidents and injuries and reduced loss of life.

Government's narrative on progress

The government tabled the final Report of the *Railway Safety Act* Review in Parliament on May 31, 2018. The statutory review was launched on April 27, 2017, one year earlier than required, to ensure this main piece of legislation governing rail safety in Canada continues to uphold the best interests of Canadians. On July 5, 2018, the Minister of Transport chaired a roundtable with representative stakeholder groups to get early perspectives on the Report and its findings. Transport Canada officials have further engaged stakeholders on the Report, including through a series of four roundtables, which took place in Moncton, Winnipeg, Vancouver, and Toronto throughout November 2018. Transport Canada is carefully considering the Report’s findings and recommendations, taking appropriate action to further strengthen the safety of Canada’s rail transportation system. The government is investing in infrastructure improvements to existing rail lines and crossings, safety-related research and innovative development, public education and awareness initiatives, as well as providing grants to encourage the closure of unsafe crossings. The government has supported 660 projects across Canada to reduce injuries and fatalities. In addition, collaboration is underway with local communities to improve the sharing of information for emergency responses and to educate the public about railway crossings and infrastructure in their communities. The government has also revised the rules governing the transportation of dangerous goods by rail, introduced a mandatory minimum level of insurance for federal railways and accelerated the timeline to phase out the DOT-111 tank cars (jacketed and unjacketed) in crude oil service by November 1, 2016. There are no longer any legacy DOT 111 tank cars in crude oil service. On November 1, 2018, the department further accelerated the removal of unjacketed CPC 1232 tank cars in crude oil service as well as both jacketed and unjacketed DOT 111 and unjacketed CPC 1232 tank cars that are used to transport a type of dangerous good which requires the use of condensates (a hydrocarbon mixture) to enable transport of heavy crude oil by pipeline or rail. To assist municipalities with emergency planning, risk assessment and to help train first responders, the government issued Protective Direction 36 on April 28, 2016 to provide jurisdictions with access to comprehensive dangerous goods information from railways, including information that they can make publicly available. Now that the *Transportation Modernization Act* has received Royal Assent, the government will move to develop regulations to implement its amendments to the *Railway Safety Act*, which will improve rail safety by requiring the mandatory installation of recording instruments on locomotives. The government has also developed a strategy for addressing fatigue in the rail industry that includes the publication of a Notice of Intent in the *Canada Gazette*, Part I on November 11, 2017, communicating to Canadians and interested stakeholders its most current policy direction on the management of fatigue in the rail industry. Transport Canada held a Fatigue in Transportation Forum in Montreal on June 27-28, 2018. The forum brought together participants from all modes of transport, stakeholders in the Canadian transportation industry and academic experts on fatigue science to discuss risks and best practices relating to the management of fatigue. On December 20, 2018, Transport Canada instructed railway companies through a Ministerial Order to revise the *Work/Rest Rules for Railway Operating Employees*, to ensure that they reflect the latest fatigue science and fatigue management practices. The railway companies must submit them by May 19, 2019 for the Minister to approve them by the end of June 2019. The Ministerial Order, specifies that railway companies shall revise the Rules to address such elements as length of a duty period, split shifts, minimum rest period, advance notice of work schedules and fatigue management plans.

Note: this is the government's own description, not an independent assessment.