Safety board calls on Canadian rail industry to speed up ATC implementation

An investigation into a 2019 collision between two CN trains has prompted the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) to call for all major Canadian railroads to step up implementation of physical fail-safe train controls on the nation’s key rail routes and high-speed rail corridors.

The Canadian rail industry must act "more quickly" to implement a form of automated or enhanced train control system on key rail routes to improve rail safety and "avoid future rail disasters," said TSB Chair Kathy Fox in a press release. Fox noted that the U.S. rail industry — including the U.S. operations of CN and Canadian Pacific — has fully implemented positive train control.

Moreover, the TSB is calling on Transport Canada to require Canadian railroads to develop and implement formal crew resource management (CRM) training as part of qualification training for railroad operating employees.

"The aviation and marine industries experienced significant safety benefits with the introduction of CRM," said Fox. "This type of training could provide additional tools and strategies to train crews to mitigate inevitable human errors, providing significant safety benefits in the rail industry."

Fox and the TSB made the recommendations following the board’s investigation into a collision between CN trains that occurred in January 2019 near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. The investigators' report can be read here.