The Government of Canada has taken action to improve the safety of railways across the country with updates to the Duty and Rest Period Rules for Railway Operating Employees (Duty and Rest Period Rules), the Rules Respecting Track Safety (TSR), and the Canadian Rail Operating Rules (CROR).

A number of changes in the CROR are related to an incident involving an uncontrolled runaway CP train in Field, BC, on February 4, 2019. In response to the occurrence in Field, Technical Safety BC issued Railway Safety Advisory 2019-01, Securement of trains on grades on March 6, 2019. This advisory alerted provincially-regulated railways to the potential risks associated with stopping trains on mountain grades without the proper application of handbrakes. 

Technical Safety BC and Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure are proposed the adoption of these updated rules for railways in British Columbia and consulted with industry between March 29 and May 12, 2022. Thank you to all those who participated. Please see the consultation summary report in the document library on the right.

DECISION UPDATE
On June 9, 2022, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure issued a Ministerial Order to update the Railways Safety Adopted Provisions Regulation and adopt new versions of existing federal rules, as follows:

  1. Canadian Rail Operating Rules (June 30, 2021)
  2. Rules Respecting Track Safety (December 15, 2021)
  3. Duty and Rest Period Rules for Railway Operating Employees (November 25, 2020)


Check back to this page for regular updates on the progress of this initiative.

1. DUTY AND REST PERIOD RULES FOR OPERATING EMPLOYEES

<p>We want to know <strong>how these proposed changes to <u>duty and rest periods</u> will impact Railway operations in BC</strong> and if adopted, what a reasonable implementation timeline could look like. Please comment below:</p><ol> <li> Are there any impacts to your sector or individual operation that have not been fully captured or have been missed in the consultation documents? </li> <li> Are there any challenges or barriers to BC aligning with the <em>planned</em> Federal implementation transition <strong>timelines of 30 months (freight) and 48 months (passenger)</strong>?<em> Note: These timelines would only take effect after a Ministerial order was released in BC. </em> </li> <li> Is there anything else we should be aware of?</li> </ol><p><br></p><p>Where possible, please indicate what railway sector you represent to help us better understand the different impacts across the railways industry. </p>
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2. RULES RESPECTING TRACK SAFETY

<p>We want to know <strong>how these proposed changes to <u>track safety</u> will impact Railway operations in BC</strong> and if adopted, what a reasonable implementation timeline could look like. Please comment below:</p><ol> <li> Are there any impacts to your sector or individual operation that have not been fully captured or have been missed in the consultation documents? </li> <li> The Federal implementation date for these changes was February 2022. If BC adopts these rules provincially they would come into force immediately. Do you see any challenges or barriers to implementing these changes <strong>as early as</strong> <strong>May</strong><strong> 2022</strong>? <em>Note: These timelines would only take effect after a Ministerial order was released in BC.</em> </li> <li> Is there anything else we should be aware of?</li> </ol><p><br></p><p>Where possible, please indicate what railway sector you represent to help us better understand the different impacts across the railways industry. </p>
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3. CANADIAN RAIL OPERATING RULES

<p>We want to know <strong>how these proposed changes to the <u>Canadian Rail Operating Rules</u> will impact Railway operations in BC</strong> and if adopted, what a reasonable implementation timeline could look like. Please comment below:</p><ol> <li> Are there any impacts to your sector or individual operation that have not been fully captured or have been missed  in the consultation documents? </li> <li>Are there any challenges or barriers to BC aligning with the <em>planned</em> Federal <strong>implementation date of</strong> <strong>October 28</strong><strong>, 2022? </strong><em>Note: These timelines would only take effect after a Ministerial order was released in BC.</em> </li> <li><strong> Is there anything else we should be aware of?</strong></li> </ol><p><strong><br></strong></p><p>Where possible, please indicate what railway sector you represent to help us better understand the different impacts across the railways industry. </p>
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