Transportation Safety Board calls for safety review after Lac-Megantic train derailment

The Lac-Megantic train disaster has left a town and country reeling, yes, but it has also left Canada's rail industry in disarray.

Train operators and oversight agencies continue to introspect and contemplate on Friday, one week after a 72-car train filled with crude oil broke from a train yard and rolled into the small Quebec community, derailing and causing an explosive catastrophe that decimated the city core, killing as many as 50 people.

Investigations by provincial police and the Transportation Safety Board continue to progress, as it becomes apparent that safety measures either failed to keep residents safe, or were not executed properly at all.

The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) updated the public on its investigation on Friday and urged the Transportation Canada to implement some key safety improvements.

[ Related: CN and CP tighten safety rules after Lac-Mégantic disaster ]

TSB Investigator Donald Ross shared two such recommendations with reporters, which appeared to shine a light on what may have gone wrong in the Lac-Megantic disaster.

Ross said that in cases they have investigated, there is often a link between accidents and trains being left unattended while parked on a grade. He also said that trains carrying dangerous goods should not be left unattended overnight.

"We are asking Transportation Canada to review the Canadian Rail Operating Rules and the related railway special instructions to ensure equipment and trains left unattended are properly secured, in order to prevent movement," he said.

What is known about the Lac-Megantic affair is that the train had been staffed by a single engineer. It was left unattended overnight and, at some point, whatever braking system had been employed failed, allowing the train to roll free.

[ More Brew: Lac-Megantic lawyer leads lawsuit in train derailment ]

Train operator Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway, first claimed the appropriate number of air brakes and hand brakes had been employed and that they were tampered with. Chairman Ed Burkhardt later accused the engineer of lying, claiming the hand brakes were not set.

A clarification on safety measures would go a long way to avoiding such events in the future. Or, at least, go a long way toward making it clear where blame lies.

CBC News reported this week that Transport Canada could not clearly state how many hand brakes must be set based on safety rules.

The Canadian Rail Operating Rules states:

This suggests that, regardless of whether the engineer's claim that he used 11 hand brakes before the accident is accurate, it could still be considered either not enough, or sufficient. That ambiguity was underlined in the TSB update on Friday.

Canada's two mayor train companies, Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National, have both announced that they are reviewing their safety measures and expand them beyond the current industry standards - including requiring at least two workers on each train and tightening braking requirements.

It is nice to see Canada's key players take it upon themselves to enact change. Still, it isn't a reach to suggest that Transport Canada should heed the TSB's warning and strengthen rail safety rules. Clarity is necessary going forward.

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