News Transport Canada lacks safety oversight, says report
David Briginshaw Editor-in-Chief
Canada’s auditor general lists several shortcomings in the way Transport Canada oversees the safety of the country’s 31 federal railways. The auditor general’s findings are particularly concerning in the wake of the crude oil train derailment and subsequent explosion in Lac- Mégantic, Quebec, on August 7 which killed 47 people. Transport Canada has implemented a regulatory framework for rail transport that includes a safety management system approach to identify, analyse, and respond to safety risks, and has made progress with federal railways to implement it. However, the auditor general says that despite
A
REPORT published on November 26 by
progress over the past 20 years, “a number of long- standing and important safety issues remain, including trespassing, grade crossings, concerns about the environment, the collection of data on safety performance from federal railways, and the implementation and oversight of safety management systems.” While Transport Canada has conducted many inspections and some audits to identify non-compliance with rail safety regulations, rules, and engineering standards, the auditor general says it does not systematically collect and use important railway safety performance and risk data to ensure that it is targeting the higher-risk railways and the most significant safety risks. Although federal railways
were required to implement safety management systems
12 years ago, the auditor general says Transport Canada has yet to establish an audit approach that provides a minimum level of assurance that they have done so. Most of the few audits which Transport Canada has carried out were too narrowly focused and provided assurance on only a few aspects of safety management. The auditor general says at the current rate it will take many years to audit all the key safety management components. The auditor general says many key elements of the guidance and tools provided to inspectors for assessing federal railways’ safety management systems are missing. For example, there are few requirements to help inspectors plan, conduct, and conclude audits and
inspections, and for following up on findings. This makes it
JR East and JR West unveil E7 Shinkansen train T
HE first Shinkansen train to be developed jointly by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West) was unveiled to the press at JR East’s Rifu depot near Sendai on November 28.
The fleet of 27 series E7 trains has been ordered for the Nagano - Toyama - Kanazawa Shinkansen, which is due to
open in March 2015, reducing the journey time for the 354km trip between Tokyo and Kanazawa from 3h 47min to 2h 30min. The line includes a new depot at Hakusan, 10km west of Kanazawa, which will service the E7 fleet. The 12-car trains are capable of 260km/h and designed to operate on the 25kV ac electrification system at both
difficult for Transport Canada to ensure that its inspections and audits are effective in determining whether railways are taking corrective actions where necessary. Lastly, Transport Canada does not have a quality assurance plan to continuously improve its oversight of rail safety. Transport Canada has defined the skills its inspectors need to conduct inspections and safety audits but it has failed to assess whether its current workforce has the required skills. Many inspectors and managers have not received training on the skills needed to do safety audits, which the auditor general says is important if Transport Canada is to implement an effective and sustainable safety oversight. For its part, Transport Canada says it agrees with all of the recommendations.
50Hz and 60Hz due to variation in the commercial frequency on the Japanese network. The trains will switch between frequencies three times on the section of the route between Tokyo and Unaduki.
The first E7s are due to enter service between Tokyo and Nagano in March. Photo: Masatoki Minami
China orders 258 high-speed trains from CSR and CNR
C HINA Railway
Investment Corporation (CRIC) has placed orders with subsidiaries of China Northern Rolling Stock Corporation (CNR) and China Southern Rolling Stock Corporation (CSR) for a total of 258 high- speed trains for China Railways Corporation. Lot 1 comprises 78 250km/h trains, which will be supplied in eight batches by CSR Sifang. Lot 2 comprises 180 350km/h sets, and is divided between CNR Changchun (27 trains), CSR Sifang (83 trains) and CNR Tangshan (70 trains). The total value of the two
lots is reportedly around Yuan
44bn ($US 7.3bn). China added another 287km to its high-speed network on December 1 with the launch of commercial services on the new line between Tianjin and Qinhuangdao. The line has cut the journey time between the two cities from more than two- and-a-half hours to 1h 11min for the fastest services.
8 IRJ January 2014
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