Industry’s had its say…

“The government should establish a system of ongoing monitoring of service and rate levels.”

“Provide a commercial dispute resolution mechanism to address problems.”

“There should be reciprocal penalties for service failures by both railways and other parties in the rail based supply chain.”

“The CN/CP monopoly/duopoly is problematic.”

“No additional regulation is required.”

These are just a few of the comments industry stakeholders have put forward in Phase II of Transport Canada’s Rail Freight Service Review.

The aim of the review is to examine the performance of Canada’s rail-based freight logistics chain and its effects on rail service to shippers in Canada.

Phase I consisted of a qualitative and analytical assessment by a panel of independent consultants. The panel developed an interim report with draft recommendations and released it for industry comment.

Transport Canada launched Phase II of the project last November by putting out a call for industry stakeholders to share their thoughts and recommendations. Interested parties were given a submission deadline of April 30, 2010.

The response was strong. In total, 102 companies, government agencies and organizations opted to weigh in. The panel is now working on a review of all comments and will submit a final report and recommendations to the transport minister later this year.

Users want better service

When the panel put out the call for submissions, it made it clear that it was looking for feedback that would improve the rail-based logistics system. And at root, that’s what industry stakeholders want too.

The issue of service—in most cases, frustration with it—is an underlying theme in most submissions. Many groups feel the railways’ level and approach to service is not acceptable.

The Canadian Industrial Transportation Association (CITA) came up with a set of 10 recommendations, using input from its membership. Those recommendations include establishing a continuing rail service monitoring function within the Canadian Transportation Agency with the authority to set service standard ranges, collect car supply data and administer penalties.

Bob Ballantyne, CITA’s president, says the rail freight industry does not operate as a normally functioning competitive market.

“There is some competition, but not very much, and that influences everything that goes on between the railways and the shippers,” he tells MM&D.

“We think there needs to be some further rebalancing of the bargaining power between the railways and their customers on some aspects of pricing and also on service-related issues.”