We understand there is a perception in B.C. and in other locations, and we don't take that lightly. We want people to have confidence in the railroad. Again, I have to express our view that we take this extremely seriously and we are working very hard to change the perception and change the results. We don't feel it's of value to debate in the media. We feel it's important to work with facts and continue to invest in our business through people, processes, and technology, and demonstrate through results that we are making a difference.
I appreciate that 2005 is not that long ago; in the minds of some of us it feels like yesterday. But we have made some very solid progress, in B.C. specifically. I work in Edmonton but look after western Canada. I spend a lot of personal time in British Columbia and speak to a lot of communities, and I get the concerned citizens, just like Monsieur Laframboise is speaking about Montmagny. We understand this. We don't take it lightly, and we are working very hard to change the perception and change the results. In B.C., the results are changing.
There has been some testimony before the committee that refers to the former BC Rail and CN. There is lots of documentation that we have examined and been through. I think it's important to recognize that the former BC Rail was a good railway, yes, but it had its share of accidents too. Until it became part of the CN system it did not have to report in the same fashion as a national railway does. So the statistics we see from BC Rail are not all that public. We've had to recreate some of the statistics to make sure we had an apples-to-apples comparison. We did the best we could.
As an example, on an FRA basis, because we didn't have TSB data from BC Rail, we've reduced the amount of FRA accidents in BC Rail between 2003 and 2005 by almost two-thirds. Those are things that don't get communicated. We're not going to go to the media and put that in play. We want to spend time here with the committee. We spend time with the Railway Safety Act people. I will be with them tomorrow in Edmonton. Mr. Vena has already spoken to the committee. We have, again, ongoing dialogues with the TSB, with Transport Canada. They spent a lot of time out west, as we have incorporated and merged with BC Rail, the Savage railway, Mackenzie Northern, and two other short lines, one in 2006 and one in the beginning of the year. We spend a lot of time, and we take to heart what they are feeding back to us.
Again, I understand there is a perception out there. And I would not disagree--none of us would disagree--that we have work to do on the perception side. The way to get through it is with results.