Transport Canada Orders Train Speed Reduction in All Areas with Extreme Fire Danger Risk

Transport Canada has ordered new safety measures for all rail operators nationwide aimed at reducing the risk of wildfires. The order, which went into effect on Sunday, July 11, 2021, will remain in place until October 31, 2021. The order requires railway companies to limit the speed of trains in all areas of the country that are facing extreme fire risk. The railways will also have to implement a fire-risk mitigation plan and submit it to Transport Canada within the next 10-days. The directive notes that “combustible material,” including vegetation alongside railway tracks, “has a fast-burning rate and could readily ignite.”

The federal department issued the order amid an investigation by the Transportation Safety Board, or TSB, into whether a freight train caused the fire that destroyed most of Lytton. The fire followed an intense heat wave in which temperatures in the community hit almost 50 C, setting a national record.

CP spokesperson Andy Cummings said in an e-mail that the railway “will fully comply” with the Transport Canada directive. CN spokesperson Mathieu Gaudreault said the company is co-operating with the TSB investigation and is engaged with the relief effort under way in Lytton, B.C.