CN’s Knuckles Rapped Again

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada recently issued yet another scathing report on CN, this time faulting the way in which a CN train was assembled which resulted in a late March 2010 derailment near Pickering, Ontario. See this Financial Post article for details.

Read the excellent summary in Consider This of Canadian National Railway’s continuing safety problems. This article indicates that since 2000, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada has investigated 10 derailments that involved longer, heavier trains and excessive in-train forces. Nine of these were Canadian National trains. CN has the lowest safety level rating, 1 or 2 on a scale of 5. One of many reasons identified for this poor safety record is the lack of dialogue by CN management with its train operators and the general strained relationship between the railway union and CN management. A “culture of fear” is known to exist within CN, and workers are reluctant to bring safety risks to the attention of their supervisors for fear of reprisal.

For more on CN derailments see this link.

Considering that CN does not appear to be responding to the many Transportation Safety Board warnings, when will the federal government get serious about forcing CN to comply with safety legislation and policies?

~ by railroaded on April 25, 2011.