Railway Safety Act

Marginal note:Formulation or revision of rules pursuant to ministerial order

• 19 (1) The Minister may, by order, require a railway company

  • (a) to formulate rules respecting any matter referred to in subsection 18(1) or (2.1) or to revise its rules respecting that matter; and

  • (b) within a specified period, to file the formulated or revised rules with the Minister for approval.

• Marginal note:Railway company to consult

  (2) A railway company shall not file rules with the Minister under subsection (1) unless it has first given each relevant association or organization that is likely to be affected by their implementation a reasonable opportunity during a period of sixty days to consult with it on the rules.

• Marginal note:Notice to accompany rules

  (3) Where rules are filed with the Minister by a railway company pursuant to an order under subsection (1) notwithstanding that a relevant association or organization objects, on the grounds of safety, to the implementation of those rules, the railway company shall, by notice filed with those rules, identify the association or organization and attach a copy of the notice of objection.

• Marginal note:Consideration of rules

  (4) Where rules are filed with the Minister by a railway company pursuant to an order under subsection (1), the Minister shall forthwith consider whether, in the Minister’s opinion and after having regard to current railway practice, to the views of the railway company and the views of any relevant association or organization identified under subsection (3) and to any other factor that the Minister considers relevant, those rules are conducive to safe railway operations by the company, and, before the expiration of the assessment period in relation to those rules,

  • (a) if the Minister is satisfied that the rules are conducive to those operations, notify the company and each association or organization identified under subsection (3) that the Minister approves those rules, either absolutely or on such terms and conditions as are specified in the notice; or

  • (b) if the Minister is not satisfied that the rules are conducive to those operations, notify the company and each association or organization identified under subsection (3) that the Minister refuses to approve those rules and of the reasons why the Minister is not so satisfied.

• Marginal note:Request for amendment to terms and conditions

  (4.1) A railway company referred to in subsection (4) may request the Minister to amend any terms or conditions specified under that subsection. When making that request, the company shall send a copy of the request to each relevant association or organization.

• Marginal note:Amendments

  (4.2) After receiving a request from a railway company under subsection (4.1), the Minister may, on the basis of new information about the safety of the railway operations, amend any terms or conditions specified under subsection (4). If the Minister amends any of those terms or conditions, the Minister shall provide each relevant association or organization with a copy of the amendments.

• Marginal note:Minister may seek advice

  (5) The Minister may, in deciding whether to approve rules filed by a railway company, engage any person or organization having expertise in matters relating to safe railway operations to furnish advice in relation to the matter.

• Marginal note:Effective date of rules

  (5.1) Rules approved by the Minister under subsection (4) come into force on a day specified by the Minister, but if they replace any regulations, they may not come into force earlier than the day on which the regulations are repealed.

• Marginal note:Revision of rules

  (6) Where a railway company files rules in respect of a matter pursuant to an order under subsection (1) and the Minister notifies the company that the Minister refuses to approve those rules,

  • (a) the company may, unless the Minister indicates in that notice an intention to establish rules in respect of that matter under subsection (7), formulate and file with the Minister for approval further rules in respect of that matter as if the order made pursuant to subsection (1) in respect of that matter had been made on the date of receipt by the company of the notice of refusal; and

  • (b) the provisions of this section apply in relation to those further rules, with such modifications as the circumstances require.

• Marginal note:Failure to file rules

  (7) Where

  • (a) a railway company fails to file rules pursuant to an order under subsection (1), or

  • (b) a railway company files rules pursuant to an order under subsection (1) but the Minister refuses under subsection (4) to approve those rules,

  the Minister may, by order, establish rules in respect of the matter in relation to that company.

• Marginal note:Consultation

  (8) The Minister shall not, under this section, establish rules applying to a particular railway company unless the Minister has

  • (a) given that company and each relevant association or organization a reasonable opportunity during a period of sixty days to consult with the Minister on the rules; and

  • (b) considered any objection, on the grounds of safety, to the establishment of the rules that is made in the course of that consultation.

• Marginal note:Rules established by Minister

  (9) Rules established by the Minister under subsection (7) in relation to a railway company have the same effect as if they had been formulated by the company and approved by the Minister under subsection (4).

• Marginal note:Definition of “assessment period”

  (10) In this section, assessment period, in relation to rules filed with the Minister under this section, means

  • (a) the period of sixty days commencing on the day on which the rules are filed; or

  • (b) if, before the expiration of the period mentioned in paragraph (a), the Minister determines that, by reason of the complexity of the rules, the number of rules filed or any other reason, it will not be feasible to consider the rules before the expiration of that period, and so notifies the railway company concerned, such period in excess of that period of sixty days as the Minister specifies in the notice.

• Marginal note:Period of inquiry not part of assessment period

  (11) Where, pursuant to section 40, the Minister directs persons to conduct an inquiry respecting proposed rules, the period commencing on the day when the Minister so directs and ending on the day when the persons report back to the Minister pursuant to section 40 shall be disregarded in computing the assessment period.