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On Friday, the Canadian government announced the formation of a public-private Canadian Rail Research Laboratory initiative charged with researching ground hazards and winter service reliability.

The joint initiative between the Canadian government, Alberta Innovates-Technology Futures (AITF), Association of American Railroads (AAR), CN, Canadian Pacific and University of Alberta calls for researching ground hazards to analyze landslides, rock falls, land subsidence, erosion, and snow and ice conditions.

Research also will be conducted on winter service reliability, including studies of optimal materials, fuels and cold weather engineering, avalanche monitoring and control, response to service disruptions, and weather monitoring and predictions.

The Canadian Rail Research Laboratory will receive more than $5 million in funding over the next five years, including $1.5 million from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, $1,056,000 from Transport Canada, $1 million from AITF and $500,000 each from the AAR, CN and CP.

"This innovative facility at the University of Alberta will conduct specialized research and educate qualified engineers to meet the future needs of the Canadian rail sector," said Rona Ambrose, minister of public works and government services, and minister responsible for northern Alberta, in a prepared statement.