Ottawa earmarks $10.9M to upgrade 400 rail crossings this year

Canada's transport minister says Ottawa will spend more than $10.9 million this year to fund upgrades to fix more than 400 railway crossings across Canada.

Marc Garneau says it is part of the federal Grade Crossing Improvement Program (GCIP), which shares up to 50 percent of the cost to fix dangerous crossings with railways and local municipalities. The money is part of the $143 million already allocated for a range of rail safety programs announced in the 2016 budget.

"This year's improvements include new flashing lights and bells, gate barriers, linking crossing signals with traffic signals, upgrading light bulbs to brighter LED lights or adding new circuits and timing devices," Garneau told a news conference Wednesday at the Toronto Railway Museum.

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Garneau says of the 400 crossings to be upgraded, 93 are in Ontario.

A CBC News investigation this month discovered the crossings program has been scaled back overall, with federal contributions to each project being reduced in April 2013 by the previous government from 80 per cent to 50 per cent.

The $10.9 million is not a marked increase in funding — in fact, it's lower than the funding the Harper government committed in previous fiscal years for the same program — but it represents a high-water mark since the shift to the new funding model.

CBC's investigation also uncovered widespread design flaws across the country through analysis of records from the Transportation Safety Board and examination of the top 25 most accident-prone crossings in Canada.

Currently there are just over 16,000 public rail crossings in Canada — 17 per cent have gates, 22 per cent have just bells and lights, while the remainder (slightly more than half) have no automated warnings at all, only a white, reflective X crossing sign, at times accompanied by a stop sign.

CN Rail estimates the cost of installing automated gates can be anywhere between $200,000 and $1 million per crossing.

"I think there are improvements to be made," Garneau replied when asked by a reporter whether he believes conditions at Canada's more than 16,000 public rail crossings are acceptable.

Transparent rail safety database

Two weeks ago, Garneau announced he was ordering his department open up access to a federal database that tracks safety at Canada's rail crossings after CBC News revealed the federal department had compiled a list of 500 "highest risk" locations but didn't share the information or warn all the communities on the list.

Garneau promises to discuss opening up the "GradeX" database system to local roads and engineering departments when he meets Thursday with members of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in Ottawa.

The Montreal-area MP also stressed the need to ensure safety on railways given the role they play in Canada's economy.

"There are about 40,000 kilometres of tracks in this country ... one of the largest rail networks in the world," Garneau said. "The network is important to our communities and our economy. Our trains take hundreds of billions of dollars of products across the country and into foreign markets."

The minister appeared at a town hall Tuesday in Lac-Mégantic, Que., where in July 2013 a train of crude-oil cars ran away downhill and derailed, exploding in the heart of the town and killing 47 people.

Garneau is to appear at a second town hall on rail safety Wednesday in Toronto.