Transport Canada Archives

Commentary

December 01, 2014
News

Canada: Grasping government tightens grip on grain

Canada’s Conservative government extended its takeover of railway grain movements Nov. 29, ordering CN and Canadian Pacific to shift specified quantities of grain each week throughout the winter, or be fined $100,000 per violation.

November 20, 2014
Regulatory

New Canadian Railway Operating Certificate easy to get, hard to lose

Transport Canada’s new Railway Operating Certificate (ROC), which comes into effect Jan. 1 2015, adds one simple form to the pile of paperwork required to run trains, but gives the regulator a new power to shut down a company’s operations without resorting to prosecution in court.

Commentary

October 29, 2014
News

Transport Canada resumes modest rail safety regulation

After a train crash of criticism by Canada’s Transportation Safety Board and the country’s auditor-general, Transport Canada is softly moderating its three-wise-monkeys approach to railway regulation.

August 19, 2014
Regulatory

TSB cites lax Transport Canada oversight in Lac-Mégantic disaster

Chronic laxity by Canada’s transportation regulator is identified by the country’s accident investigator as the primary underlying cause of the July 6, 2013 derailment and explosion at Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, of a Montreal, Maine & Atlantic train carrying 7.7 million liters of mislabeled crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken shale formation to Irving Oil’s refinery at Saint John, N.B.

June 25, 2014
Regulatory

Canada accelerates transportation review

Acknowledging that the country’s 19th century railway network and its regulatory regime are not up to the demands placed upon it by 21st century shippers, Canadian Transport Minister Lisa Raitt announced July 25 an accelerated timeline for a comprehensive, arm’s-length review of transportation legislation.

June 19, 2014
Class I

Canada TSB clears interim CBR reforms

Canada’s transportation accident investigators gave the country’s rail regulator, Transport Canada, a passing grade on interim emergency directives introduced in April to reduce the chances of crude oil train explosions such as that which devastated downtown Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, on July 6, 2013.

April 23, 2014
Regulatory

Transport Canada toughens CBR safety regs

Trains carrying 20 cars or more of crude oil or ethanol must not exceed 50 mph under a new directive issued by Transport Canada on Wednesday, April 23, 2014, and that limit may be lowered for some locations after specific risk assessments for particular urban populations and sensitive assets such as water sources.

January 03, 2014
Regulatory

Questions cloud Lac-Mégantic crude oil test data

Why did it take so long to determine that Bakken crude is especially explosive, given that Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB) six months ago analyzed samples drawn from the few tank cars that survived the July 6 explosion of a Montreal, Maine & Atlantic oil train at Lac-Mégantic, Quebec? An even bigger question is why the Canadian investigatory board continues to suppress the test data.

December 13, 2013
Regulatory

Canada cracking down on CBR shippers

Canada’s government has ordered Transport Canada to crack down hard on crude oil shippers who they say continue to evade a directive that they test the contents of tank cars before classifying them as hazardous materials for crude by rail (CBR) transportation.