Canada bans one-man crews

One-man crews have been banned from trains with dangerous good in Canada following the recent derailment in Quebec which killed 47 people.

See the previous Loco Express article on the tragic accident here

Transport Canada has also ruled that trains laden with dangerous good must no longer be left unattended on a main track and hand brakes must be applied to trains left longer for an hour.

Transport operators have also been given five days to ensure that nobody without authorisation can enter the cab of an unattended train on a main track or sidings.

Gerard McDonald, assistant deputy minister of safety and security at Transport Canada said, of the accident and the new measures, “The disaster brought to light several industry practices which have caused some concern.”

“Given that and with an abundance of precaution, we thought it would be prudent to implement these measures now.”