Transport Canada yesterday announced it issued an emergency directive aimed at improving rail safety in the wake of the
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway derailment that occurred July 6 in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec.
Although the accident's cause remains unknown, Transport Canada is trying to build upon the safety advisories it received last week from the
Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) and further enhance existing rail safety and security measures, Transport Canada officials said in a prepared statement.
Effective immediately, all Canadian railroads are required to ensure that:
• no locomotive attached to one or more loaded tank cars transporting hazardous materials is operated with fewer than two qualified persons on a main track or siding;
• no locomotive attached to one or more loaded haz-mat tank cars is left unattended on a main track;
• all unattended controlling locomotives on a main track and sidings are protected from unauthorized entry into the cab;
• directional controls are removed from any unattended locomotives, preventing them from moving forward or backward, on a main track or siding;
• individual special instructions on hand brakes are applied to any locomotive attached to one or more cars that are left unattended for more than one hour on a main track or sidings; and
• the automatic brake is set in full-service position and the independent brake is fully applied for any locomotive attached to one or more cars that are left unattended for one hour or less on a main track or sidings.
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The accident has prompted a call for improved rail safety in the United States, too. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday announced he sent a letter to the
U.S. Department of Transportation urging the agency to require freight railroads to draft a plan to retrofit or phase-out "DOT-111" tank cars, which were involved in the Quebec derailment.
The tank cars "have proven to be flawed, out of date and a factor in hazardous material spills during derailments," said Schumer in a prepared statement. The Quebec derailment in combination with increased crude-oil shipments along New York railways to the Port of Albany creates an urgency for a corresponding increase in freight-rail safety measures in the state, which must be implemented through the
Federal Railroad Administration and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration regulatory processes later this year, he said.
DOT-111 tank cars are not pressurized like DOT-105 or DOT-112 cars that have thicker shells and heads, and are less prone to breaching during a derailment, said Schumer, who also wrote a letter to the
Association of American Railroads urging its cooperation in retrofitting or phasing-out DOT-111 cars.
