Transport Committee on Dec. 10th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 143 of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.

Before we begin the meeting, I want to remind all in-person participants to read the best practices guidelines on the cards on the table. These measures are in place to protect the health and safety of all participants.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Thursday, November 21, 2024, the committee is commencing its study of community safety and emergency preparedness for the transport of dangerous goods by rail.

I'd like to welcome our witnesses joining us today. Colleagues, we have, from the Department of Transport, Michel Béland, acting director general, transportation of dangerous goods, and Stephen Scott, director general of rail safety. Welcome to you both.

We have, from the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board, Yoan Marier, chair, and Vincenzo De Angelis, director of investigations of rail and pipeline. Welcome.

We'll begin with opening remarks. For that, I will turn the floor over to you, Mr. Scott. You have five minutes, sir.

[Stephen Scott, Director General, Rail Safety, Department of Transport]

Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and commitee members.

Thank you for having us today.

My name is Stephen Scott. I work as the director general of rail safety and security at Transport Canada. I am joined today by my colleague Michel Béland, who is the acting director general of the transportation of dangerous goods program.

I would like to begin by acknowledging that the land on which we are gathered today is the traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin and Anishinabe peoples.

Thanks very much again for the opportunity to speak with you today about the transportation of dangerous goods by rail.

As the regulator, Transport Canada is responsible for the administration and oversight of safety and security in the federally regulated rail sector. The rail safety and security program comprises about 175 inspectors, who conduct about 40,000 inspections and 20 safety audits every year in the rail mode. In addition, the transportation of dangerous goods program oversees the safe and secure movement of hazardous materials across all modes of transport, including by rail. This program includes 112 inspectors, who conduct about 4,000 inspections annually.

Since the Lac-Mégantic tragedy in 2013, Canada's rail safety and dangerous goods regimes have undergone fundamental changes. In addition to an enhanced oversight posture through increased inspections, data-driven and risk-based planning, and stronger enforcement tools, such as administrative monetary penalties, Transport Canada has advanced a continuous cycle of policy and regulatory modernization. This includes stricter requirements related to train securement, track standards, tank cars and emergency response plans; speed restrictions for trains carrying dangerous goods; new duty and rest rules to mitigate fatigue risks of employees in safety-critical positions; elevated safety standards for train brake testing and maintenance; new grade crossings regulations that improve safety at road crossings; and assisting in the advancement of new technologies that can improve safety.

In May 2022, this committee issued a report with 33 recommendations to improve railway safety in Canada. I am pleased to report today that of those 33 recommendations, 31 have been completed or we have actions under way to complete them. This is being done through existing legislative and regulatory authorities already available to the department.

Over the last number of years, we have seen some positive indications of downward trends in accident rates. For example, reporting from the Transportation Safety Board indicates that in 2023, there were 914 rail accidents in Canada. This represents a 12% decrease from the 10-year average. However, we know that the risk picture and the operating environment are constantly evolving and that challenges remain. We look forward to the committee's recommendations as part of the current study to inform future policy directions.

I would now like to turn to the recent train derailment that occurred in Longueuil, Quebec.

On November 14th, a Canadian National train derailed eight cars in a railyard. Of those, six were carrying dangerous goods. One tank car, which was carrying hydrogen peroxide, was punctured.

When derailments occur, railway companies are obligated by regulation to take immediate mitigation actions.

This includes notifying and supporting local emergency first responders, deploying resources to assist with emergency management and remediation, and advising the Transportation Safety Board and Transport Canada. In this instance, in accordance with standard operating procedures, Transport Canada was in immediate communication with the railway company involved to verify that the emergency response plan was being implemented and to provide technical advice on remedial actions.

I will conclude with a few comments on Canadian National's current operating restrictions impacting Via's new trainsets in the Quebec City-Toronto corridor, as I understand this is also an area of study for this committee. For clarity, this issue is unrelated to dangerous goods.

Transport Canada is aware that Canadian National requires restrictions at about 300 grade crossings for Via Venture trains. Based on information from CN, we understand that the rationale is to ensure consistent activation of the grade crossing warning systems at these locations. The net result is that Via trains are required to reduce their speed when they approach these crossings, which is adding travel time to Via's routes in the corridor.

Transport Canada is closely monitoring the situation and advancing its own due diligence review to ensure there is no threat to safety. If there are additional measures from a safety perspective that we need to take as the regulator, we have the existing tools to be able to do that.

Thank you for your time.

We are happy to take questions from members of the committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Mr. Scott.

Mr. Marier, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Yoan Marier, Chair, Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board]

Mr. Chair, members, good afternoon. Thank you for inviting the Transportation Safety Board of Canada to discuss the important topic of rail safety.

The TSB is independent and operates at arm's length from other government departments and agencies. We report to Parliament through the President of the King's Privy Council for Canada. This lets us be impartial and free from any real or perceived external influence.

As you may know, our mandate and sole objective is to promote air, rail, marine and pipeline transportation safety for modes of transportation under federal jurisdiction. To that end, we conduct independent investigations, we identify safety gaps, their causes and contributing factors, we make recommendations and we release reports.

It is also worth noting what the TSB does not do. We have no authority to determine civil or criminal responsibilities. Even if the TSB is often the first to arrive on the scene of an accident, we do not act as first responders.

Rail safety continues to be top of mind for the TSB. I'd like to share some rail safety statistics.

In 2023, 1,235 rail occurrences were reported to the TSB. This included 321 incidents and 914 accidents, six of which resulted in the release of dangerous goods. This represents a 9% decrease from 2022 in accidents, and a 12% decrease from the 10-year average.

There were a total of 67 transportation-related fatalities in 2023; 53 of those were trespassing fatalities and 13 were crossing accident fatalities. No fatalities were related to a release of dangerous goods.

Since its creation in 1990, the TSB has issued 154 recommendations to the regulator and the rail industry. As of March 2024, 89.6% of the responses to these rail recommendations have received the board's highest rating of “fully satisfactory”.

We are currently reviewing the steps taken by the regulator and the industry in terms of the TSB Watchlist, our program that identifies key safety issues that need to be addressed to make Canada's transportation system even safer.

Inadequate safety measures pose risks not only to the rail industry, but also to the public, communities and the environment.

There are five watch-list safety issues affecting the rail sector, including three multimodal issues. The multimodal issues are fatigue management in freight train operations, safety management and regulatory surveillance. The two rail-specific issues are following signal indications, and unplanned or uncontrolled movement of rail equipment.

In regard to following signal indications, train crews are required to identify and communicate signal indications among themselves and then take appropriate action in how they operate the train. However, when crews miss or don't follow a signal indication, in the absence of physical fail-safe defences, it could result in a collision or a derailment. From 2004 to 2021, there has been an annual average of 35 reported occurrences in which a train crew did not respond appropriately to a signal indication displayed in the field. We have seen a number of concerning occurrences lately.

The board has been calling for physical fail-safe train controls on trains for decades. In 2022, the board recommended that Transport Canada require major Canadian railways to expedite the implementation of physical fail-safe train controls on Canada's high-speed rail corridors and on all key routes. So far, the most optimistic timeline referenced by Transport Canada for the implementation of such a system in Canada, which will be called “enhanced train control”, is 2030. Until then, the rail transportation system relies mostly on administrative defences to protect against such occurrences.

Uncontrolled movements are low-probability events. When they do occur, however, they can have catastrophic consequences, particularly if they involve dangerous goods, as was the case in the 2013 derailment in Lac-Mégantic. That event caused 47 deaths and destroyed most of the downtown area.

After concluding its investigation, the TSB made five recommendations, two of which are still active and are on the TSB Watchlist.

Over the years, there has been significant progress in addressing safety deficiencies and implementing the TSB's recommendations. However, there is still much work that can be done to improve rail safety and to mitigate the potential impacts to people, communities and the environment.

Thank you. We are ready to take your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you, Mr. Marier

We'll start our line of questioning today with Mr. Lawrence.

Mr. Lawrence, the floor is yours. You have six minutes, sir.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Thank you.

I appreciate you all being here in person.

I want to start off with level setting in terms of.... Several of you mentioned the numbers, but we'll just go through them again. How many rail accidents were there in 2023-24?

[Yoan Marier]

For accidents, there were 914, and that was in 2023. We don't have the data yet for 2024, because the year is still ongoing, and we compile the data at the end of the year.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Do you have any idea of whether it's going to be an increase or a decrease, or stay the same?

[Yoan Marier]

Do you have any idea, Vince?

[Vincenzo De Angelis, Director, Investigations, Rail/Pipeline, Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board]

I think it's a little early right now for the compiling. I'd say it's on track and similar to the previous year.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

In 2023, of those 914, how many involved dangerous goods?

[Yoan Marier]

We have the data for accidents involving dangerous goods releases. Six accidents in 2023 involved a release of dangerous goods.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

What injuries or fatalities were there as a result of the six that involved the release of dangerous goods?

[Yoan Marier]

None. As a matter of fact, the last fatalities that were directly related to a release of dangerous goods were in Lac-Mégantic in 2013.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

How does the incident rate compare between moving petroleum on rail versus moving it through pipelines?

[Yoan Marier]

It's very hard to compare the two because the two modes of transportation are so different—

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Well, according to the Fraser Institute, in 2015, shipping oil by rail was four and a half times more likely to result in an incident, as opposed to pipelines.

Does that sound like that could be reasonable?

[Yoan Marier]

As I said, it's very hard to compare the two.

I don't know if you have additional comments.

[Vincenzo De Angelis]

Yes, I can add to that. We don't normally compare the two different modes. They have different risks.

Basically, from our perspective, whichever mode of transport is used, we look to ensure that any risks or issues are mitigated, and we identify those through our investigations.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Don't you think that would be a useful area of study? In fact, as a committee member, I might even go so far as to say that's something you should look at as a real-life comparison.

Certainly, when watching the train go through my riding of Northumberland—Peterborough South, I see oil tank after oil tank. That could have an incredibly devastating impact if relatively small things were to go wrong, whereas incidents with pipelines are four and a half times less likely.

Don't you think it makes sense to study that?

[Yoan Marier]

Well, there are ways to transport petroleum by rail safely, which is why we have been issuing recommendations over the past years. A lot of them have been addressed as fully satisfactory.

There are ways to do it safely. It's our job to identify where there are deficiencies and push for change.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

I'm just switching subjects a bit here.

When dangerous goods go across private property, are the owners of that private property in any way given a warning?

[Yoan Marier]

I'm not aware of that. Do you know?

[Vincenzo De Angelis]

I think that would be more a question for Transport Canada, perhaps.

[Yoan Marier]

Maybe Transport Canada can answer this one.