Gatineau Quebec - The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has issued three recommendations to Transport Canada, aimed at improving the safety of cold weather train operations in the Canadian Rockies and other mountainous regions of Canada.
 
The recommendations stem from a TSB investigation into a fatal freight train derailment that killed three people in February 2019 near Field.
 
They include:

1. A call for enhanced testing standards and time-based maintenance for air-brake cylinders on all freight cars, including grain hopper cars, that operate on steep descending grades in cold ambient temperatures;
    
   
2. A recommendation that automatic parking brakes be installed on freight cars, especially cars that make up bulk commodity unit trains that operate through mountainous territory;
    
   
3. A recommendation that Canadian Pacific Railway demonstrate to Transport Canada that it can effectively identify hazards and assess and mitigate risk using all available information.

The recommendations were outlined during a TSB news conference, held 31 Mar 2022 in Calgary, approximately three years after a 112 car grain train derailed on CP's mountainous Laggan subdivision near Field, killing all three members of the train crew aboard.
 
"You also have to look at all of the circumstances. We can't change the past. We can't undo what's happened. But what we can do is make recommendations so that these sorts of things don't happen again. That's why we're making the recommendation about automatic parking brakes because it is a physical defence (against uncontrolled train movements in the event of and air brake failure)."
 
Fox said concerns over the uncontrolled movement of rail cars are not new in Canada.
 
"Unplanned and uncontrolled movement of railway rolling stock have been a concern to the TSB for some time now," she said.
 
"In fact, there were 589 such events from 2010 to 2019 that were reported to the TSB. And our Lake Megantic investigation clearly illustrated that these are high risk events that can have catastrophic consequences. The TSB remains concerned that the current defences are not sufficient to reduce the number of uncontrolled movements and improve safety."
 
Fox said new technologies for enhancing train brake performance are available but have not been widely adopted.
 
Automatic parking brakes, for example, mechanically lock the wheel brakes on freight cars in the applied position when pressure in air-brake systems becomes depleted.
 
Automatic parking brakes are not affected by cylinder brake leakage, so they can hold a stationery train in position, even in extremely cold ambient temperatures, which contribute to air brake system failures.
 
"Until physical defences such as automatic parking brakes are implemented across the Canadian railway network, the risk of uncontrolled movements due to inadequate train securement will persist, especially on steep grades where the effectiveness of hand brakes cannot be tested," Fox said.
 
TSB officials also acknowledged that while Transport Canada and CP took actions to mitigate risk in the wake of the Field derailment, more needs to be done.
 
Transport Canada will now have 90 days to consider the TSB's recommendations, and decide if, how, and when, the recommendations should be implemented.
 
"Once we assess that (the minister's) response, we will assess it to see if it addresses the underlying safety deficiencies, and we will continue to follow up until these recommendations are fully implemented."
 
Brian Cross.