Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations

10.7 (1) A person must not couple a railway vehicle with another railway vehicle at a relative coupling speed greater than 9.6 km/h (6 mph) if either of the railway vehicles that make contact on coupling contains dangerous goods for which a placard is required to be displayed in accordance with Part 4 (Dangerous Goods Safety Marks).

(2) Despite subsection (1), a person may couple a single railway vehicle moving under its own momentum at a relative coupling speed less than or equal to 12 km/h (7.5 mph) when the ambient temperature is above -25ºC.

(3) If a person couples a tank car that contains dangerous goods for which a placard is required to be displayed in accordance with Part 4 (Dangerous Goods Safety Marks), with another railway vehicle and the three conditions in any one of the four rows set out in the table to this subsection apply, the person must

• (a) visually inspect the underframe assembly and coupling and cushioning components of the tank car to ensure their integrity before the tank car is moved more than 2 km from the place where the coupling occurred; and

• (b) report, in writing, to the owner of the tank car within 10 days after the coupling and include a copy of the text of this section and information about any damage that compromises the integrity of the underframe assembly or draft gear of the tank car discovered as a result of the inspection.

(4) The owner of a tank car who receives the report must not use the tank car or permit the tank car to be used to transport dangerous goods, other than the dangerous goods that were contained in the tank car at the time of the coupling, until the tank car undergoes

• (a) a visual inspection and a structural integrity inspection in accordance with clause 9.5.6(a) and clause 9.5.7 of TP 14877; and

• (b) for a tank car equipped with a stub sill, a stub sill inspection covering at least the following areas:

  • (i) the termination of the stub sill reinforcement pad closest to the mid-point of the tank car and associated welds for a 30-cm length from that point back towards the other end of the pad,

  • (ii) all welds

    • (A) connecting the head brace to the stub sill,

    • (B) between the head brace and the head reinforcement pad, and

    • (C) between the tank and the head reinforcement pad and, if the head reinforcement pad is connected to the stub sill reinforcement pad, 2.5 cm past that connection towards the centre of the tank,

  • (iii) all metal of the stub sill assembly, other than welds, from the body bolster to the coupler, and

  • (iv) the draft gear pocket.

(5) This section does not apply if either the tank car or the other railway vehicle that was coupled is equipped with a cushioning device designed for a displacement of 15 cm (6 in.) or more in compression and capable of limiting the maximum coupler force to 4 448 kilonewtons (1,000,000 lbf) when impacted at 16.1 km/h (10 mph) by a railway vehicle having a gross mass of 99 790 kg (220,000 lb).