Gatineau Quebec - Investigators say a crash involving two freight trains in southern Alberta highlights the need for the federal government to improve railway safety standards.
 
In May 2013, two Canadian Pacific Railway trains collided near Medicine Hat, derailing two locomotives and four rail cars and slightly injuring a conductor. * See the Railway Investigation Report R13C0049.
 
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) says a crew member on one train misread a signal thinking the tracks ahead were clear and other crewman didn't pick up on the mistake.
 
The TSB says the crash shows that traffic control systems need to be upgraded with fail-safe technology to ensure signal recognition errors are detected.
 
The board also says lead locomotives should be equipped with in-cab video and voice recorders to ensure investigators have more information about accidents.
 
The TSB has made similar recommendations to Transport Canada, the federal regulator, in the past.
 
"The accident highlights the need for action on two of the TSB's Watchlist issues:  following railway signal indications and on-board video and voice recorders," the board said Tuesday in a release.
 
"If existing centralized traffic control systems are not enhanced to include physical fail-safe capabilities, signal recognition errors will remain undetected, increasing the risk of train collisions and derailments."
 
On 26 Nov 2014, the TSB included these concerns on its watch-list of eight key issues it says pose the greatest risk to Canada's transportation system.
 
At the time the TSB said it has determined that action taken to date is insufficient and more needs to be done to eliminate the risks.

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