• 1.0 INTRODUCTION
  • 1.1 Definitions
  • 1.2 Additional Terms
  • 1.3 Roles and Responsibilities of the Parties
• 2.0 DESCRIPTION OF APPLICABLE ENGINEERING WORK AND RAILWAY WORKS
  • 2.1 Engineering Work
  • 2.2 Railway Works
• SOURCES FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

INTRODUCTION

The intent of this Guideline is to clarify for all parties what is required by Section 11 of the amended Federal Railway Safety Act (RSA). A multi-party committee including representatives of the railway industry, consulting engineers, governments, utilities and professional engineering associations developed this guide-line.  The amended RSA came into force on June 1, 1999. Section 11 of the amended RSA states as follows:

11. All the engineering work relating to railway works, including design, construction, evaluation or alteration, shall be done in accordance with sound engineering principles. A professional engineer shall take responsibility for the engineering work.

This guideline is to be used by the following parties:

• railway companies;
• utility companies;
• road authorities;
• professional engineers;
• consulting engineering companies;
• contractors;
• adjacent landowners that interface with railway works;
• governments, agencies and other public authorities;
• rail safety regulators who must interpret the provisions of the RSA consistently; and
• provincial and territorial engineering regulators.

SECTION 1.1  DEFINITIONS

The following definitions are included in the RSA:

"crossing work": a road crossing or utility crossing;

1. a line of railway, including any structure supporting or protecting that line of railway or providing drainage thereof,
2. a system of switches, signals or other like devices that facilitates railway operations, or
3. any other structure built across, beside, under or over a line of railway, that facilitates railway operations, but does not include a crossing work;

"railway work": a line work or any part thereof, a crossing work or any part thereof, or any combination of the foregoing;

"road crossing":  that part of a road that passes across, over or under a line of railway, and includes any structure supporting or protecting that part of that road or facilitating the crossing;

"road": any way or course, whether public or not, available for vehicular or pedestrian use;

"road authority": a pubic authority having legal authority to open and maintain roads;

"utility crossing": that part of a utility line that passes over or under a line of railway, and includes any structure supporting or protecting that that utility line or facilitating the crossing;

"utility line": any wire, cable, pipeline or other like means of enabling the transmission of goods or energy or the provision of services.

The following terms are used in this guideline to clarify the meaning and intent of Section 11:

• A change to a railway work that requires a new design from that which previously existed for
  the work;

• A professional engineer with authority within an organization, or delegated by it for ensuring the implementation of engineering work related to railway works is conducted in accordance with Section 11 of the RSA;

• A professional engineer providing services to the public and, where applicable, entity licensed and authorized to provide services to the public by the professional engineering Association/Ordre;

SECTION 1.2

• Means: the act of conceiving, planning and establishing the structure and parameter values of a work, system, device or process, through the application of science, mathematics and engineering principles;

• Carrying out a review or an assessment of a railway work in compliance with recognized construction, functioning and operating standards, for the purpose of establishing its safety;

• Means: any act of planning, designing, composing, evaluating, advising, reporting, directing and/or supervising, or managing any of the foregoing, that requires the application of engineering principles, and that concerns the safeguarding of life, health, property, economic interests, the
  public welfare or the environment;

• A person who is authorized under a provincial or territorial engineering Act to engage in the practice of professional engineering. In Canada, the designation is Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) with the exception of Québec where the designation is engineer (Eng.) or ingénieur (ing.);

• A design certified by a professional engineer licensed by any jurisdiction in Canada and which is approved by the railway company for use in repetitive applications;

• Body authorized by Provincial/Territorial statute to license and regulate engineers to practice engineering and offer services to the public;

• Transport Canada, the federal government body that regulates and administers the prudent operation of implementation of engineering work related to railway works under Section 11 of the RSA;

• The owner or manager of railway works.

SECTION 1.3  ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PARTIES

The roles and responsibilities of the parties responsible for, or affecting railway works, and who are subject to the pro-visions of Section 11 are described below. Parties or persons carrying out the work related to railway works, must not deviate from the approved design or instructions without first obtaining approval from the responsible professional engineer.

SECTION 1.3.1 RAILWAY COMPANIES, UTILITY COMPANIES AND ROAD AUTHORITIES 

These parties may own, manage, maintain, construct, or alter railway works or other non-railway works that may affect railway safety.

They take overall responsibility for ensuring their works comply with Section 11 of the RSA, and have a duty to retain professional engineers to comply its provisions.

They must ensure that resources are made available for the prudent implementation of engineering work related to railway works in accordance with sound engineering principles, safety, and environmental principles. The engineering work must be carried out in accordance with applicable legislation and regulations.

These parties must be prepared to provide to Transport Canada, upon request, verification that professional engineers have taken responsibility for any part of the engineering work.

SECTION 1.3.2 PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS

The professional engineer typically works with, or for those parties that own, manage, construct or alter railway works. They also work with, or for adjacent landowners that own, manage, construct or alter non-railway works that affect the safety of railway works.

Professional engineers agree to take responsibility for engineering work related to railway works that is under their direction. They shall take responsibility for design, evaluation, construction or alteration work associated with a railway work that affects safety to the public, employees of the railway company, or the environment. The professional engineer must decide the extent to which professional engineers must be directly involved in the engineering work related to railway works.

In fulfilling their responsibilities, professional engineers assure that all engineering work relating to railway works is carried out using good engineering judgment, with sound engineering practice, and with the appropriate level of oversight needed for ensuring safety. This includes ensuring that the appropriate systems are in place for the prudent implementation of the engineering work including, but not limited to: design, construction, evaluation, alteration, operation, maintenance, training, environmental, quality assurance, safety, accident investigation, corrective measures, records, and emergency procedures.

The professional engineer approves, performs and reviews the implementation of engineering work related to specific railway works in accordance with applicable legislation (e.g. occupational health and safety, environmental laws, etc.). They must maintain a current understanding of applicable regulations and safety requirements with regard to railway works, or parts of works, for which they have, or will accept responsibility.

In organizations that do their engineering work internally, there may be a professional engineer identified as the chief engineer or some other title appropriate to the responsibility.

This individual is the final authority who decides whether implementation of engineering work related to railway works is in compliance with all applicable legislation and that it demonstrates good engineering practice. The chief engineer will therefore take responsibility for the engineering work.

If the organization uses a chief engineer to assume responsibility, that person may delegate all or some of the responsibilities to another professional engineer or several engineers. The latter situation occurs when other professional engineers are involved in engineering work performed under their immediate direction, and not under the immediate direction of the chief engineer.

In cases where the engineering work related to railway work is contracted out to a consulting engineering firm or a contractor who teams with a consulting engineering firm, a designated consulting engineer is required to take responsibility.

SECTION 1.3.3 ADJACENT LANDOWNERS

These parties may affect the safety of railway works or be affected by railway works in their adjacent construction activities, operations, or maintenance. This includes, but is not limited to, environmental (i.e., noise, spills) and occupational health and safety effects.

These parties should ensure that engineering work is done in accordance with the requirements of Section 11 of the RSA (and all other applicable legislation) when they are considering construction or maintenance on their properties or engage in activities that may impact the safety of railway works.

SECTION 1.3.4 RAIL SAFETY REGULATORS

These parties are responsible for regulating and enforcing the RSA and other related legislation and guidelines related to rail safety. Transport Canada is the rail safety regulator for the RSA.

• The responsibilities of the rail safety regulators include:
• ensuring compliance with Section 11 of the RSA;
• conducting audits to assess compliance;
• provide counseling with respect to the requirements, and the potential consequences of non-compliance; and,
• taking enforcement action under the RSA as required.

SECTION 1.3.5 ENGINEERING REGULATORS

These parties are the 12 provincial and territorial engineering associations/Ordre that regulate the practice of professional engineering in Canada. Their role is to license suitably qualified individuals to engage in the practice of professional engineering. These organizations set qualification standards for entry into the profession, and regulate the practice of professional engineering in accordance with provincial and territorial legislation.

The responsibilities of the engineering regulators include registration/licensing of appropriately qualified individuals and, where applicable, entities offering engineering services as well as discipline of individual professional engineers who do not follow the requirements of the RSA, other applicable legislation, or do not meet professional practice or ethical requirements. They also enforce against unlicensed engineering practice.

Provincial and territorial engineering regulators also have a responsibility to respond to, and support individual professional engineers on questions of proper professional conduct in their engineering work.

SECTION 2.0  DESCRIPTION OF APPLICABLE ENGINEERING WORKS AND RAILWAY WORKS

SECTION 2.1 ENGINEERING WORK

Engineering work, which is related to any railway work includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• establishing (adopting or developing) and maintaining appropriate codes, standards/directives and specifications, standard designs, standard practice circulars/directives and recommended methods in design, construction, evaluation, alteration, performance, supervision, inspection, testing and maintenance;
• implementing and applying standard designs, standard practice circulars/directives and recommended methods to specific railway works;
• design, construction, evaluation or alteration of railway or non-railway works that can affect the safety of a railway work to the public, employees of the railway company or the environment;
• assurance of conformity of the construction or the alteration of the railway work with the design and appropriate codes and standards;
• evaluations and assessments related to railway works;
• environmental assessments related to a railway work; and
• definition of qualifications and training of persons involved in the design, construction, evaluation, inspection, testing and maintenance of railway works.

SECTION 2.2  RAILWAY WORKS

SECTION 2.2.1

For the purposes of describing those railway engineering work, there are three components:

1) track and roadway;
2) bridges, other structures and utility crossings; and
3) road crossings and signals.

TRACK AND ROADWAY WORKS

The types of track and roadway works that require engineering work include, but are not limited to, the following:

• track - an assembly of rails, ties and fastenings over which cars, locomotives and trains are moved;
• roadway – includes in addition to the roadbed the slopes of cuts, ditches and other drainage structures, access roads etc.;
• roadbed – includes in addition to the foundation on which the rails and ties are placed, other drainage systems, slope and rock stability systems, and erosion control systems; and
• environmental installations such as holding ponds, septic and sewage systems, etc.

SECTION 2.2.2 BRIDGES, OTHER STRUCTURES AND UTILITY CROSSINGS

The types of bridges, other structures and utility crossings with-in the railway right-of-way that require engineering work include, but are not limited to, the following:

• bridges;
• retaining structures (supporting embankment); and
• buried structures (i.e. weigh scales, unloading pits, drip trays, jacking pads, etc.).

line structures adjacent or under track;

• culverts and drainage structures;
• tunnels under the track; and
• utility crossings (gas, water, signal, communication, etc.).

line structures crossing over track;

• overhead bridges;
• railway tunnels;
• rocksheds;
• snowsheds; and
• utility crossings (gas, water, signal, communication, etc.).

adjacent structures within right of way;

• retaining structures (supporting adjacent property);
• storage tanks – above, at, or below ground;
• sign support structures; and
• buildings.

SECTION 2.2.3 ROAD CROSSING AND SIGNAL WORKS

The types of road crossing and signal works that require engineering work include, but are not limited to, the following:

• train control signals; 
• railway defect detection systems, including;
• dragging equipment;
• hot box detectors;
• track obstructions; and
• roadbed stability.
• road crossings; and
• road crossing warning systems.

Engineering work relating to road crossings includes an assessment of the impact on the safety at the road crossing of alterations on the road and rail approaches.

Rail and road authorities jointly share responsibility to ensure that crossings operate safely as a system. This means that any changes to road or rail operation that affect safety need to be assessed as part of the engineering work. Either party contemplating new signal or crossing works, altering existing works or who foresees changes in road or rail operations should communicate with the other party and ensure that appropriate engineering work is carried out.

Issues related to road approaches to road crossings, which are the responsibility of the road authority, include, but are not limited to, the following:

• changes in volumes, speed or traffic patterns;
• design and construction of crossing and adjacent intersections;
• traffic control devices including signs and traffic signals and their phasing;
• road geometry; and
• sightlines.

Issues related to rail approaches to road crossings, which are the responsibility of the rail authority, include, but are not limited to, the following:

• crossing surface geometry;
• changes in volumes, speed or traffic patterns;
• curvature;
• sightlines;
• adding track; and,
• sidings.

SOURCES FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Rail Safety Regional Offices:  http://www.tc.gc.ca/rail/offices.htm