Railway Safety Act Review Panel Working on Report

By 250 News

The Railway Safety Act review report will likely be in the hands of the Federal Minister of Transportation  before  Christmas.

“The panel members are developing their draft recommendations now,” says Tim Meisner, the Executive Director of the Railway Safety Act Review Secretariat “I would imagine the final report will be in the Minister’s hands around the end of November.”

It is not expected that the Minister would have time to review the document and have it published for released until the New Year.

Tim Meisner says there were no real surprises during the consultation period but there were recurring themes:  “There were proximity issues, as people expressed concerns about trains travelling through their communities.  There were questions about the framework of the regulations, and there were questions about the environment in the wake of the Wabamun derailment which brought on questions about the Act doing enough to ensure safety.”

Although Prince George was one of three B.C. communities where there was a public consultation session   he says participation here was not what one might have expected.  The Prince George public consultation session held on May 18 was just two and a half months before Prince George would be dealing with a collision, derailment and fire.

While CN has said the incident was the result of human error, the Transportation Safety Board has yet to release its final report on that incident.

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