Train crews miss too many signals, Canada safety board says

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) yesterday released its latest "Watchlist," highlighting seven systemic safety issues and one emerging safety issue continue to put people, property and the environment at risk across Canada’s rail, air and marine sectors, according to the board.

Since 2010, the Watchlist has focused national attention on safety issues backed by years of investigation work, data and TSB recommendations. Despite progress in some areas, serious, and often preventable, occurrences continue to happen, TSB officials said in a press release.

A Watchlist item applied specifically to rail involves train crews not consistently recognizing and following signal indications. In the absence of mandated physical fail-safe defenses that can intervene to slow or stop a train, missed signals continue to create a risk of collisions and derailments, TSB officials said. Between 2019 and mid-2025, there were 303 missed-signal occurrences.

Watchlist items for all transportation modes include the following:
• Fatigue management. Fatigue continues to affect human performance in air, marine, and rail transportation. Work and rest rules alone are insufficient without effective fatigue management plans, awareness training and supportive reporting cultures;

• Safety management. Many operators are still not required to have formal safety management processes, and where systems exist, effectiveness is not always demonstrated, leaving hazards unidentified and mitigations unvalidated; and

• Regulatory surveillance. Transport Canada’s surveillance has not always been effective in detecting non-compliance or ensuring timely corrective action. Sustained, risk-based oversight and consistent enforcement are required across the board.

“These are complex and long-standing issues, but they are not unsolvable,” said TSB Chair Yoan Marier. “Real progress requires leadership, accountability, concerted efforts, and sustained action by both industry and regulators.”

Two Watchlist items have changed since the last list was released. The "unplanned/uncontrolled rail movements" item has been removed. Transport Canada and the rail industry have taken meaningful steps leading to a reduction in these occurrences. Two related TSB recommendations (R20-01, R22-01) were recently closed as "fully satisfactory," resulting in that item being removed from the list.

The second item involves substance use, which has been added as an emerging safety issue. Investigations and consultations indicate growing safety risks linked to drug and alcohol impairment in the marine and rail sectors. Inconsistent testing and the absence of reliable data suggest the issue is more widespread than reported and requires close attention.

Going forward, the Watchlist will be updated continuously, allowing the TSB to add new issues as they emerge and remove issues as soon as they are considered mitigated, board officials said.