OTTAWA — Transport Canada will provide up to C$5.4 million in funding for 20 projects nationwide under the Rail Climate Change Adaption Program, which seeks to better prepare railroads for dealing with conditions such as flooding, fires, and more extreme operating temperatures.
The program supports research, development, and deployment of innovative technologies, tools, and approaches to identify and reduce risks of climate change for railroads, the agency says. It is part of the larger Rail Safety Improvement Program.
The projects selected will receive federal contributions ranging from $76,000 to $300,000 for projects ranging from a washout hazard risk assessment and monitoring system on the Canadian National in British Columbia to infrastructure monitoring to identify changes to permafrost on the Hudson Bay Railway in Manitoba. A complete list of the projects is available here.
“To further reduce disruption, keep our supply chains even stronger, and ensure Canadians receive affordable goods on time, we must continue to work to reduce the growing risks and impacts of climate change on Canada’s rail sector,” Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said in a press release. Said Steve Guilbeault, minister of environment and climate change, “This rail safety program will help prepare for the effects of climate change and ensure the safety and wellbeing of our families, communities and the environment well into the future, which is the whole point of adaptation.”
