A railway "black box" by Wabtec Railway Electronics - Date/Photographer unknown.

23 June 2012

Equal Access to Voice and Video Data

Ottawa Ontario - Re:  Trains in Canada Need Video and Voice Recorders to Improve Safety, 16 Jun 2012
 
Canada's railways take exception to your editorial. Railways fully support the installation of voice and video recorders in locomotive cabs. Railways are eager to install these devices for their safety and security benefits. Where the industry and the Transportation Safety Board have differed is with respect to when the technology should be used.
 
For the TSB, recorders would be used by investigators who would collect the data in post-event investigations with no provisions for railways to access the data. The TSB is understandably concerned about maintaining the integrity of their approach, which protects witnesses from prosecution or discipline after an accident.
 
We believe the railway industry and investigators should have equal access to the data to verify that train crews are operating safely. Railways would like to have access to these recordings for the investigation of accidents or for use in carrying out efficiency testing and assessing system-wide performance programs.
 
One cause of train accidents is the use of electronic devices by train crews while operating a train. This trend has led to laws preventing mobile phone use while driving in many jurisdictions. Allowing industry access to in-cab audio and video recording would discourage this practice in our industry.
 
Canada's Class 1 railways have the lowest train accident records in North America. Our passenger railways are among the safest in the world.
 
We want to work with the TSB for safer railways. We are proud of our industry's safety record and are fully committed to working with government and other stakeholders to make it better.
 
Michael Bourque - President and CEO Railway Association of Canada.