Rail transportation
Rail transportation safety investigation R26T0099
The occurrence
On 30 March 2026, a Canadian National Railway Company (CN) freight train was travelling west at approximately 24 mph on the Grimsby Subdivision when 13 cars derailed at Mile 8.5 while crossing the Welland Canal’s Bridge 6, a bascule drawbridge in St. Catharines, Ontario, that allows rail traffic to cross the canal.
Table 5. Non-main track derailment accidents and incidents by province, April 2026
| April | Year to date (April) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2026 | 2025 | 2021-2025 average | 2026 | |||
Table 4. Non-main track collision accidents and incidents by province, April 2026
| April | Year to date (April) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2026 | 2025 | 2021-2025 average | 2026 | |||
Table 3. Main track derailment accidents and incidents by province, April 2026
| April | Year to date (April) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2026 | 2025 | 2021-2025 average | 2026 | |||
Table 2. Railway crossing and trespasser accidents by province, April 2026
| Crossings with type recorded (year to date 2026) | All crossings (year to date) | Tresspasser (year to date) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Public automated | ||||||||
Table 1. Railway occurrences and casualties, April 2026
| April | Year to date (April) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2026 | 2025 | 2021-2025 average | 2026 | 2025 | ||
Rail Transportation Safety Advisory Letter 02/25
November 3, 2025
Director General, Rail Safety and Security
Transport Canada
Enterprise Building, 14th floor
427 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa ON K1A 0N5
Positive train control system
Positive train control (PTC) is a federally mandated safety overlay system in the United States, designed to prevent specific high-consequence train accidents resulting from operational rule violations or human factors issues associated with signal recognition and compliance.