Transportation Safety Board
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 RAIL STATISTICS - 2004

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Statistical Summary Railway Occurrences 2004

Table 10 - Reportable Incidents by Type and Assigned Factor 1995-2004

  1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Incidents                    
Dangerous Goods Leaker 352 330 285 272 167 188 194 167 151 131
Main-Track Switch in Abnormal Position 15 8 12 14 15 17 9 9 11 12
Movement Exceeds Limits of Authority 101 71 104 107 115 102 95 93 102 90
Runaway Rolling Stock 11 18 16 20 15 9 9 19 11 12
Signal Less Restrictive than Required 0 4 1 9 8 2 7 3 2 1
Unprotected Overlap of Authorities 22 32 24 16 11 11 4 6 10 5
Crew Member Incapacitated 1 0 1 0 2 1 4 6 6 2
Total 502 463 443 438 333 330 322 303 295 251
Assigned Factors*                    
Equipment 0 3 0 5 4 1 4 3 7 1
Track 4 4 2 6 3 3 5 3 3 0
Actions 147 124 159 174 110 134 112 105 117 99
Failure to Protect 14 7 12 14 34 44 42 39 39 36
Failure to Secure 8 11 9 11 16 11 6 10 8 5
Failure to Use Equipment Properly 1 3 0 8 2 7 1 3 5 5
Inadequate/ Inappropriate Communication 2 5 6 16 4 8 6 3 5 4
Overlap of Authorities 115 92 120 113 40 56 49 45 58 42
Vandalism 4 4 9 6 1 2 5 2 1 4
Other 3 2 3 6 13 6 3 3 1 3
Total 151 131 161 185 117 138 121 111 127 100

* The TSB does not investigate all occurrences; therefore, assigned factors may not represent TSB findings. More than one factor may be assigned to each occurrence. For non-dangerous goods incidents only.

Table 11 - Dangerous Goods Leaker Incidents by Province and Leak Location/Component 1995-2004

  1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Incidents                    
Newfoundland & Labrador 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nova Scotia 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
New Brunswick 4 2 9 10 8 3 5 6 10 7
Quebec 40 60 50 25 14 12 8 8 9 7
Ontario 119 110 100 89 65 59 74 65 46 34
Manitoba 31 10 6 9 11 24 8 9 9 17
Saskatchewan 10 8 13 10 4 2 8 4 2 4
Alberta 69 37 55 74 37 54 43 43 45 31
British Columbia 78 103 52 55 28 34 47 32 30 31
Northwest Territories 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Canada 352 330 285 272 167 188 194 167 151 131
Leak by Location/ Component*                    
Structural 6 4 2 1 3 2 0 4 3 0
Safety Appurtenances 81 85 82 66 19 37 25 34 27 25
Operating Appurtenances 165 184 177 148 107 105 110 86 65 74
Auxiliary Appurtenances 48 41 31 46 32 28 34 25 25 13
Other 50 13 14 19 11 14 19 7 14 8
Total 350 327 306 280 172 186 188 156 134 120

* More than one leak location/component may be assigned to each occurrence.

APPENDIX B - DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

DEFINITIONS

The following definitions apply to railway occurrences that are required to be reported pursuant to the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board Act and the associated regulations.

Railway Occurrence

  1. Any accident or incident associated with the operation of rolling stock on a railway, and
  2. Any situation or condition that the Board has reasonable grounds to believe could, if left unattended, induce an accident or incident described in paragraph (a) above.

Reportable Railway Accident

An accident resulting directly from the operation of rolling stock, where:

  1. a person sustains a serious injury or is killed as a result of:
    1. being on board or getting off the rolling stock, or
    2. coming into contact with any part of the rolling stock or its contents, or
  2. the rolling stock:
    1. is involved in a grade-crossing collision,
    2. is involved in a collision or derailment and is carrying passengers,
    3. is involved in a collision or derailment and is carrying dangerous goods, or is known to have last contained dangerous goods, the residue of which has not been purged from the rolling stock,
    4. sustains damage that affects its safe operation, or
    5. causes or sustains a fire or explosion, or causes damage to the railway that poses a threat to the safety of any person, property or the environment.

Reportable Railway Incident

An incident resulting directly from the operation of rolling stock, where:

  1. a risk of collision occurs;
  2. an unprotected main-track switch is left in an abnormal position;
  3. a railway signal displays a less restrictive indication than that required for the intended movement of rolling stock;
  4. an unprotected overlap of operating authorities occurs;
  5. a movement of rolling stock exceeds the limits of its authority;
  6. there is runaway rolling stock;
  7. any crew member whose duties are directly related to the safe operation of the rolling stock is unable to perform the crew member's duties as a result of a physical incapacitation that poses a threat to the safety of any person, property or the environment; or
  8. any dangerous goods are released on board or from the rolling stock.

Serious Injury

An injury that is likely to require admission to a hospital.

Dangerous Goods Involvement

An accident is considered to have dangerous goods involvement if any car in the consist carrying (or having last contained) a dangerous good derails, strikes or is struck by any other rolling stock or object. It does not mean that there was any release of any product. Also included are crossing accidents in which the motor vehicle involved (e.g., a tanker truck) is carrying a dangerous good.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Accidents by Railway

Accident totals are not presented by railway. The track, train and personnel in an occurrence may all belong to different companies; also, an occurrence may have several contributing factors. Presenting data based purely on one of these criteria or factors would be misleading, and misinterpretation of data by readers could unfairly affect a company's competitive position.

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1. It is agreed by convention that, for a result to be considered statistically significant, its probability must be lower than 1 in 20 (that is, p<.05).

2. Factors assigned are conditions and/or acts that may have played a role in an occurrence.

3. It is agreed by convention that, for a result to be considered statistically significant, its probability must be lower than 1 in 20 (that is, p<.05).