(Reuters circulated the following story on June 7.)
WINNIPEG — Lax maintenance and inspection at Canada’s two big railways costs farmers millions of dollars due to derailments, delayed shipments and spilled grain, which also endangers wildlife, the Canadian Wheat Board says.
In a presentation to be made tomorrow, the farmer-controlled board, Canada’s largest grain shipper, urges Ottawa to tighten safety regulations for Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.
The board, one of the world’s largest grain marketers, relies on rail to move much of the 18 million to 22 million tonnes of wheat and barley it ships annually.
The railways have spilled 13.7 million tonnes of grain worth about $4 million since August 2005 from leaky rail cars and in derailments, the board said.
The spilled grain has lured grizzly bears and other wildlife to the tracks in the Rocky Mountains, causing many to be killed by trains, the board said.
“Reports on [derailments] and their causes would suggest that the railways are not doing all that they can to prevent, or at least reduce, the severity of these occurrences,” the board said.
In December, a derailment in the B.C. Rocky Mountains shut down a CN line for more than five days, causing CN to lose 60 per cent of its capacity and CP to lose 40 per cent of capacity.
Shipments were delayed, causing a backlog on the Canadian Prairies and forcing expensive delays for ships waiting at the Port of Vancouver, the board said.