The mayor of a small Manitoba town is raising questions around rail safety after learning that CP trains running through his community are set to double their speed, and regulatory agencies can do little to stop it.
Souris, Man. Mayor Darryl Jackson says residents in the town were sent a notice in February that CP trains were increasing their speeds from 32 km/h to 48 km/h. Ultimately, the trains will be travelling at the maximum of 64 km/h once work to upgrade the tracks is completed.
Jackson said that in the wake of the Lac-Megantic disaster, he's most worried about the trains carrying crude oil, especially since a number of homes in the town are located just metres from the tracks.
"These are oil trains we are most concerned about," Jackson told 麻豆影视. "They are going through town, they're not stopping.
In his attempt to try and fight the change, Jackson learned that his municipality, his MP and even Transport Canada can't stop the rail company from increasing the trains' speeds.
"Our understanding is that Transport Canada doesn't really have any advance warning of when and what speeds are going to change," Jackson said. "That is strictly up to the rail companies."
In a statement to 麻豆影视, Transport Canada said while information about speed changes is shared by railway companies regularly, it is done on a voluntary basis.
The agency said train speed is determined by the class of track, and upgrades to track infrastructure are not reportable.
"As long as the railways maintain the tracks according to Transport Canada's Rules Respecting Track Safety, the trains can operate at the speed allowed by the class of track," Roxane Marchand, a spokesperson for Transport Canada, said in an email.
Transport Canada did clarify, however, that it's required to review any "significant changes" to the railway operations one time each year, and officials say that information should include significant changes to the speed of the train.
The agency also said it wasn't aware of the notice CP sent to Souris residents regarding the speed change. CP said Souris is the only community in Canada where track speed is being increased.
CN Rail, meanwhile, said it expects to begin maintenance on parts of its rail network and there will be speed increases in certain locations.
Following the Lac-Megantic derailment disaster, which saw a runaway freight train carrying crude oil derail and set off a series of explosions that left 47 people dead, a number of questions regarding rail safety in Canada have been raised.
The oil in Lac-Megantic proved to be as flammable as gasoline, though it had been improperly labelled as something less volatile.
A class action lawsuit filed by the survivors of the Lac-Megantic disaster alleges that Transport Canada failed to ensure safe and secure operations by Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway -- the company at the centre of the disaster -- even though the department was aware of the company's repeated violations.
With a report from CTV's Jill Macyshon
