The Government of Saskatchewan and the Canadian Safety Train Express encourages everyone to stay safe around trains and their tracks, no matter where they are.

Highways and Infrastructure Minister Greg Ottenbreit said the main point of the week, first and foremost, is to promote safety.

"We went out to a grade 2 class in Regina yesterday to talk about real safety with them, particularly because its good to instill that knowledge into kids at an early age. They may not realize the potential dangers around tracks and trains. Things like the speed of a train and how quite often because there so large they are going quicker than you might realize or they don't stop as quickly as you would expect from a normal road vehicle."

The Government of Saskatchewan keeps railway safety top of mind throughout the year.  They do so with routine safety inspections and reviews of safety management plans for shortline railways.  They also work closely with shortlines to ensure that operating rules and plans are up-to-date.  

Most recently, the Government of Saskatchewan has partnered with the CSTE on an augmented reality railway safety activity book for grade four students. This year, french immersion students will also get the opportunity to learn about train safety, as we have worked to translate the interactive book. In conjunction with National Rail Safety Week this year, activity books have been distributed to more than 3,500 students in Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan has 13 operational, privately-owned shortline railways.  These operate on more than 2,000 kilometres of track and connect to more than 6,000 kilometres of federally-regulated track.