Transport Canada to Address Climate Change Impacts on Rail

Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
“We must take immediate action to protect our planet from climate change,” Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra said on Nov. 24. “Our government will continue to invest in measures that address the impacts of climate change. This is why we are providing funding under the Climate Change and Adaptation to Extreme Weather Infrastructure initiative: to address severe weather impacts on railway operations.”

“We must take immediate action to protect our planet from climate change,” Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra said on Nov. 24. “Our government will continue to invest in measures that address the impacts of climate change. This is why we are providing funding under the Climate Change and Adaptation to Extreme Weather Infrastructure initiative: to address severe weather impacts on railway operations.”

Transport Canada has launched its first climate change-focused call for proposals to help ensure “railway infrastructure is resilient to extreme weather events.”

The agency on Nov. 24 reported that its Climate Change and Adaptation to Extreme Weather Infrastructure initiative, under the Rail Safety Improvement Program, will provide up to C$10.5 million for rail projects that:

  • “[S]upport vulnerable infrastructure by ensuring resilience to extreme weather events and adaptation to climate change.”
  • “[A]ddress climate change resilience through the rehabilitation, mitigation, and/or prevention of the impacts of climate change/extreme weather along rail lines and rail property.”

According to Transport Canada, project categories (with examples) include:

  • Rehabilitation: “Repairing damage from significant weather events to increase safety, such as erosion correction/controls to mitigate flood damage, debris removal following extreme windstorms or forest fires, and repairs to damaged rail infrastructure following extreme windstorms, forest fires and floods.”
  • Mitigation: “Increasing resilience of vulnerable infrastructure to increase safety, such as using permeable paving surfaces to reduce run-off during heavy rainfalls, installing soil stabilization measures such as dykes or retaining walls, and improving track health including localized ballastless track upgrades and reduction of shoulder slope.”
  • Prevention: “Providing adaptation/environmental benefits such as reductions in noise and/or vibration, the preservation of wildlife and habitat, structural adaptation measures such as changing the composition of road surfaces so that they do not deform in high temperatures, or ecosystem-based approaches using natural infrastructure to design adaptation measures.”

Eligible fund recipients are provinces and territories; municipalities and local and regional governments; road and transit authorities; Crown corporations (including VIA Rail Canada); for-profit organizations (such as railway operators, railway owners); not-for-profit organizations (including academia); Indigenous groups, communities and organizations; and individuals/private landowners. Applications will be accepted until Jan. 6, 2023.

This call for proposals follows Transport Canada’s July 5 announcement of new fire-mitigation rules and a research-funding program to help railroads improve safety and security and build “climate resiliency.” Under the new rules for the fire season (April 1 to Oct. 31), Transport Canada is requiring rail companies to: reduce train speeds and conduct additional track inspections when temperatures are high to reduce the risk of a derailment caused by track conditions; inspect locomotive exhaust systems more frequently to ensure they are free of any deposits that could pose a fire risk; and implement a fire risk reduction plan, which “requires companies to monitor fire risk levels, manage vegetation, reduce activities that could spark fires, and respond to detected fires.” Companies must also engage local governments and Indigenous communities on their plans.

“We must take immediate action to protect our planet from climate change,” Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra said on Nov. 24. “Our government will continue to invest in measures that address the impacts of climate change. This is why we are providing funding under the Climate Change and Adaptation to Extreme Weather Infrastructure initiative: to address severe weather impacts on railway operations.”

According to Transport Canada, the Supply Chain Task Force “recognized climate change as a driver of instability in transportation supply chains. For example: Wildfires in July 2021 reduced railway operations by 30%, representing around C$163 million per day in terms of blocked shipment value. Flooding in November 2021 hindered the movement of goods estimated to be more than C$170 million per day due to lost train capacity and increased congestion at the Port of Vancouver.”

Established earlier this year by Alghabra, the Task Force was charged with investigating solutions to address Canada’s transportation supply chain challenges. It released a final report of recommendations in October that the government of Canada will use to help develop a National Supply Chain Strategy.

In related developments, Alghabra on Nov. 17 introduced the Strengthening the Port System and Railway Safety in Canada Act, which he said “includes measures to improve our supply chain so that our transportation system remains safe, efficient and reliable.”

The Act aims to:

  • “Amend current legislation and modernize the way Canada’s marine and railway transportation systems operate.
  • “Remove systemic barriers to create a more fluid, secure and resilient supply chain.
  • “Expand Canada Port Authorities’ mandate over traffic management.
  • “Position Canada’s ports as strategic hubs that support national supply chain performance and effectively manage investment decisions for sustainable growth.
  • “Improve the government’s insight into ports and their operations.
  • “Modernize provisions on rail safety, security and transportation of dangerous goods.”
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