(Reuters circulated the following on September 28.)
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, — Mediation has failed to resolve complaints about rail car allocation that a group of grain shippers have leveled against Canadian National Railway, the Canadian Wheat Board said on Friday.
The two sides had agreed to work with a mediator on complaints about CN’s advance booking programs, which five small Canadian grain shippers and the CWB said unfairly favor large grain companies with multiple elevators, who are able to load 100-car trains.
The complaints will now return to the Canadian Transportation Agency. The regulator has 120 days to review them and issue a ruling.
In July, the agency ruled in favor of small shippers in a similar complaint against CN.
The railway had said it believed it complied with the regulator’s ruling.
The shippers have also asked the CTA for an interim order to stop the advance booking program, pending the ruling.