CN will adjust safety practices to comply with Transport Canada directive

MONTREAL, Quebec–CN said it would adjust its safety practices to comply with Transport Canada’s Section 33 Directive issued today under the Railway Safety Act.

The directive aims to enhance the effectiveness of train securement procedures and safety across the Canadian rail industry, Transport Canada said in an earlier statement today.

 Claude Mongeau, president and chief executive officer of CN, said the company would build on its robust securement policies for unattended trains that are anchored on multiple safety defences. 

“The government’s new safety rules will help to reduce the risk of unintended train movements that can lead to catastrophic accidents such as the one in Lac-Mégantic, Que.,” Mongeau said. 

“This rail accident, the most devastating in decades, will be thoroughly investigated by federal authorities to determine exactly what went wrong and what needs to be done to prevent such accidents in the future. This tragedy is a sober reminder to the industry that safety must be an absolute priority to prevent accidents from harming the communities and the environment railways must go through. Notwithstanding that accidents can always happen, the movement of hazardous material by rail is handled with a very high level of safety. The fact is that 99.99 per cent of dangerous goods moving by rail arrive at their destination without a release caused by an accident,” he said in a release.

Commenting on the transport of dangerous goods within CN’s rail network, Mongeau said:

“The safety of our operations and of the communities through which we pass is of the utmost importance to all of us at CN. The long-term improvement in our safety record is being driven by solid investments in infrastructure, rigorous track and train inspection, as well as a continuing focus on employee training and safety awareness. We also work closely with communities through TRANSCAER® (Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response), a voluntary outreach effort that focuses on assisting communities to prepare for and to respond to a possible dangerous goods transportation incident.”