Transportation Safety Board
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 RAIL STATISTICS - 2005

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Statistical Summary Railway Occurrences 2005

Table 10 - Reportable Incidents by Type and Assigned Factor 1996-2005

  1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Incidents
Dangerous Goods Leaker 330 285 272 167 188 194 167 151 131 124
Main-Track Switch in Abnormal Position 8 12 14 15 17 9 9 11 12 10
Movement Exceeds Limits of Authority 71 104 107 115 102 95 93 102 90 89
Runaway Rolling Stock 18 16 20 15 9 9 19 13 11 16
Signal Less Restrictive than Required 4 1 9 8 2 7 3 2 1 1
Unprotected Overlap of Authorities 32 24 16 11 11 4 6 10 5 3
Crew Member Incapacitated 0 1 0 2 1 4 6 6 2 1
Total 463 443 438 333 330 322 303 295 252 244
Assigned Factors*
Equipment 3 0 5 4 1 4 3 7 1 1
Individual/ Personal 86 107 108 109 57 35 29 40 20 16
Track 4 2 6 3 3 5 3 3 0 2
Actions 124 159 174 110 134 112 105 117 108 106
Failure to Protect 7 12 14 34 44 42 39 39 37 31
Failure to Secure 11 9 11 16 11 6 10 8 5 10
Failure to Use Equipment Properly 3 0 8 2 7 1 3 5 6 2
Inadequate/ Inappropriate Communications 5 6 16 4 8 6 3 5 5 7
Overlap of Authorities 92 120 113 40 56 49 45 58 48 49
Vandalism 4 9 6 1 2 5 2 1 4 4
Other 2 3 6 13 6 3 3 1 3 3
Total 217 268 293 226 195 156 140 167 129 125

* 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 1996-2005

  1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Incidents
Newfoundland and Labrador 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nova Scotia 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
New Brunswick 2 9 10 8 3 5 6 10 7 1
Quebec 60 50 25 14 12 8 8 9 7 8
Ontario 110 100 89 65 59 74 65 46 34 30
Manitoba 10 6 9 11 24 8 9 9 17 3
Saskatchewan 8 13 10 4 2 8 4 2 4 4
Alberta 37 55 74 37 54 43 43 45 31 29
British Columbia 103 52 55 28 34 47 32 30 31 48
Northwest Territories/ Yukon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Canada 330 285 272 167 188 194 167 151 131 124
Leak by Location/ Component*
Structural 4 2 1 3 2 0 4 3 0 1
Safety Appurtenances 85 82 66 19 37 25 34 27 28 19
Operating Appurtenances 184 177 148 107 105 110 86 65 74 82
Auxiliary Appurtenances 41 31 46 32 28 34 25 25 15 12
Other 13 14 19 11 14 19 7 14 8 5
Total 327 306 280 172 186 188 156 134 125 119

* 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 (for example, 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).