Additional regulation between railways, shippers not needed: CP Rail

CALGARY, Alta. — Following the federal government’s Rail Freight Service Review (RFSR) amendment to the Canadian Transportation Act yesterday, which introduced legislation giving companies that ship goods by rail the right to a service agreement with railways, Canadian Pacific Railway is maintaining its stance that there is no need for additional regulation between railways and shippers.

CP officials say it is the company’s belief that commercial undertakings, coupled with a stable regulatory regime, remain the best approach to promoting supply chain coordination and investment.

“We firmly agree that improvement in Canada’s world class rail supply chain will best be achieved through offsetting commercial undertakings, in particular, better traffic forecasting and more certainty on traffic volumes,” said CP president and CEO, E. Hunter Harrison. 

Harrison noted that the proposed legislation contains many key elements of the Dinning Report – which outlined the recommendations based on the Rail Freight Service Review – and said CP has been implementing various commercial agreements that were included in the report’s recommendations, including a service agreement template and a commercial dispute resolution process. “As such, we are confident strong commercial relationships will continue to emerge with little need for the processes described in the legislation.”