(The following article by Mark Hume was posted on the Globe and Mail website on September 27.)
VANCOUVER — An engine that had such poor brakes it had to be taken out of service immediately was one of the safety concerns raised when Transport Canada inspectors monitored Canadian National Railway’s operations in northern British Columbia this summer.
Rod Nelson, a spokesman for Transport Canada, said the inspection identified 21 safety violations — slightly higher than normal — including some that had been noted before in previous monitoring programs.
“There were some reoccurring issues and so we did have some concerns about things, repeat violations, so we did ask for a corrective action plan, which CN did supply,” Mr. Nelson said yesterday.
“A lot of them were on the minor side, like not talking on the radio according to protocol. . . . But they are part of the operating rules and we take violations seriously.”
Mr. Nelson said a few of the violations were so serious action had to be taken on the spot, including one locomotive that had such bad brakes it was ordered removed from service.
“There were also some issues with the hand brakes, which are a bit like the emergency brakes on cars, and so we actually put on some hand brakes, our inspectors, and got CN to deal with the rest of it. So we took some immediate action,” Mr. Nelson said.
“There’s still work to be done, but the immediate [concerns] were dealt with. They’ve given us an action plan. They are putting it into place and we will go back up to check on their compliance. So over all, we are satisfied,” he said.
CN, which has been under fire on the West Coast because of a string of accidents, quickly responded to the safety violation reports.
CN spokesman Mark Hallman said the company filed an action plan with Transport Canada last Friday.
“I think they were of a relatively minor nature,” he said of the 21 safety violations.
“They had been requesting how we were going to approach it and we provided Transport Canada with an action plan . . . [which] itemizes the areas in which CN is going to be having specific focus,” he said.
But Sylvia LeBlanc, a spokeswoman for the United Transportation Union, said the entire process is of concern.
“Basically the railway and all the federally regulated railways seem to write their own policies and submit it to Transport Canada for approval. In our opinion, there’s not enough oversight when you leave the responsibility for self-regulation to the railways,” Ms. LeBlanc said.
She cited train accidents that have occurred in Cheakamus Canyon, near Squamish, where a train derailed in August, 2005, spilling toxic sodium hydroxide into the river, and a derailment at Lillooet, in June, which left two CN workers dead, as signs of a serious problem.
“When you have those sorts of results it suggests maybe there is something wrong with the process.
“In my opinion, Transport Canada needs to take a more active role . . . we as a union have lobbied the federal government to improve monitoring and oversight of all federally regulated railroads,” Ms. LeBlanc said.
Last year, Transport Canada placed CN Rail under a 60-day trial period, during which the railway had to abide by a strict set of requirements on the Squamish route, north of Vancouver.
That trial ended last February, after CN Rail had operated without incident during the test period, but a small number of restrictions, on requiring special emergency stop procedures and how empty cars are handled, were left in place.
On Monday, Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon said CN had been given an order, in July, to fulfill directives that were issued to improve safety on the rail network nationally.