1. Level Crossing Derailments and near-Derailments involving Heavy Trucks
Description of three crossing accidents involving trains and heavy trucks.
First describe the Canadian context
Then describe the three accidents and safety actions taken
Then summarize conclusions of the paper
Ian Naish
IRSC 2007
Goa India

2. Some Railway Statistics for Canada
33 million population
49,000 km of track
3,200 locos
100,000 railcars (wagons)
350 billion tonne-km of traffic annually
500 intercity trains per week
Commuter rail carries around 220,000 passengers daily
250 crossing accidents annually

3. Canadian Rail Network and TSB Offices
Depiction of Canadian rail network, as well as TSB regional offices and head office locations.
route km
employees
353 billion revenue tonne-km
235 employees in TSB (25 in Rail/Pipeline Investigation Branch)

4. TSB Mandate Advance transportation safety by:
conducting independent investigations
making findings
making recommendations
reporting publicly

5. Crossing Accidents to be Described
Firdale, Manitoba
Kingston, Ontario
Munster, Ontario

6. Firdale Manitoba
R02W0063 Level crossing accident and derailment, Firdale, Manitoba
6 000 tonne train travelling at 80 km/h struck tractor trailer at passively protected crossing equipped with crossing signboards and stop signs.
Derailment of train and release of dangerous goods, including benzene and hexene.
Evacuation of 160 residents of the area.
The municipality reduced the roadway approach gradients to the crossing, cleared sightlines and erected advance warning signage on the road to warn of the presence of a rail crossing.
Transport Canada’s 1994 Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations, were repealed and replaced in January 2007 with the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations, which were aimed at limiting driver fatigue.
Board recommendations were made on truck driver education and emergency responder training. Actions taken resulted in improvements to drivers’ manuals, and driver training, as well as mproved brochures and a video for first responders to BLEVEs.

7. Kingston, Ontario (Simulation)
R02T0149 Kingston, Ontario
A passenger train, travelling at 124 km/h struck a loaded tractor-trailer at a public crossing.
The tractor-trailer, which was carrying a 12-ton hydraulic excavator, was struck and the excavator slid off the trailer, and struck and demolished one of the crossing signal masts.
The 270 kg connecting arm (gooseneck) attaching the trailer to the tractor was torn off and thrown approximately 168 m east of the crossing.

8. Kingston, Ontario (Actual)
Looking west towards crossing
Truck wheels in foreground
Backhoe-excavator and trailer in ditch south-east of crossing
Truck cab in ditch north-east of crossing

9. Kingston, Ontario
Damage to Via Rail Genesis GE F59 passenger locomotive

10. Kingston, Ontario View to east from crossing
Train in background on south track
Profile of crossing clearly not even
Cab in ditch east of crossing

11. Kingston, Ontario Safety Action:
New sign developed for this crossing type and installed on the approaches
Railway and road authority meetings on the issue
Railway posted information for low-clearance vehicles on its website

12. Munster, Ontario, crossing approach
R04H0009
10 tonne dump truck passed over rural crossing protected by crossing signboards and three warning signs
Train (150 km/h) struck truck (16km/h)
Driver fatally injured
Acute crossing angle
Interim signage (for 10 years)
Sound of whistle masked until one second before impact

13. Munster, Ontario, view from truck cab
View of the crossing from a semi-trailer cab looking right from driver’s side
No view of the track

14. Munster,Ontario, locomotive damage
Damage to front end and left side of VIA Rail F40 passenger locomotive

15. Munster, Ontario, truck cab
Cab totally demolished
Radio on, passenger window closed
Speed 16 km/h

16. Munster, Ontario, truck box
Box and frame of 10 tonne Ford 8000 dump truck
Safety action taken:
Reconstruction of crossing and installation of automated warning system
Research into effectiveness of locomotive horn audibility
Research into low cost warning systems
Research into driver blind spots

17. Conclusions Speed of safety action can vary
Compelling argument has to be made for change
Interorganizational communications are to be encouraged
Safety messages may have to be repeated or disseminated differently
Quick safety action may be taken.
Conversely, it may take several years to get any safety action.
A compelling argument always has to be made that a significant risk exists, and that argument has to be understood by the agents of change.
Communications between organizations on mutual safety concerns is to be encouraged.
Sometimes the way to advance transportation safety awareness is repetition of the messages in order to translate the possibility of safety action into reality.

18. Thank You