Rail safety ‘insufficient,’ watchdog says

Automated brake systems needed to prevent future disasters, report warns

Two years before VIA train 92 derailed near Aldershot, there was a similar accident in Quebec.

Now safety advocates say it’s time to install the rail technology that might have prevented those crashes, and the deaths and injuries that followed.

The federal Transportation Safety Board’s report into a derailment near Quebec City two years ago warns Canada lags behind other countries, including the United States, in requiring railroads to adopt automated control systems.

“It’s clear, when it comes to high-speed trains and passenger trains, the (safety) measures are insufficient, as this accident illustrates,” board official Ed Balkal oul told reporters Tuesday in Quebec City. He said the “scenario is similar” in the recent crash.

The safety board says it has repeatedly called for change in accident reports. On Tuesday, it renewed calls for voice recorders in train cockpits and went the extra step in calling for a system called positive train control.

Positive train control, mandated for U.S. railroads by 2015, is a computerized system that automatically applies the brakes when a train is travelling at unauthorized speeds.

Both derailments were caused by excessive speed as the trains were about to switch tracks, said Rob Johnston, the safety board’s manager for Central Region Operations.

“With the technology that’s available today there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be having some additional physical barriers that will enhance safety, at least in high-speed corridors,” Johnston said.

He echoed last week’s calls from the investigators into the VIA crash near Aldershot station for voice recorders to help determine, after the fact, what happened before an accident occurred.

In a statement Tuesday, Transport Minister Denis Lebel said he has asked the Advisory Council on Rail Safety “on an urgent basis” to look into the matter of installing voice recorders. He said consultations are already underway.

The safety board report also calls for signals inside train cockpits, since weather may have caused the crew to misread the trackside signals in the derailment near St-Charles-de-bellechasse, Que., that injured seven people. Crew fatigue was also considered a contributor.

“It’s a no-brainer. . . . There should be backup support.” OLIVIA CHOW NDP TRANSPORT CRITIC

It’s not known what role the signals played in the Burlington crash, which killed the three engineers and injured 46 passengers.

Johnston cautioned against drawing too many parallels, since the Burlington derailment investigation is still in a preliminary stage. Investigators have stressed that it’s not their job to lay blame, and as of last week it remained unclear whether human error was a factor in the derailment.

The Toronto-bound VIA train was travelling 108 km/h when it derailed while crossing the track near Aldershot to avoid a crew working up ahead.

The Quebec train was travelling at 102 km/h on a single track when it approached a siding, where it was to remain to avoid another train coming down the rails.

In both cases the speed limit approaching the crossover was 24 km/h.

Federal NDP transport critic Olivia Chow accused the federal government of ignoring the safety board’s warnings since 2001.

“It’s a no-brainer, because sometimes you can’t see the signals. There should be backup support. Obviously we know what works — do it,” she said. “I don’t know how many reports, recommendations, tragedies it would take for the minister, the Conservatives, to act.”