(Reuters circulated the following story by Roberta Rampton on January 18.)
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Canada’s transport regulator ruled Canadian National Railway Co. failed to provide adequate service to grain shippers last year, but said on Friday it needs more data before ruling whether recent changes went far enough.
The ruling came after five small grain companies and the Canadian Wheat Board complained a program that CN Rail used last year for ordering rail cars gave large grain companies an unfair advantage in securing access to export ports.
“Overall, while CN has made positive changes to its tariffs, there is evidence that there are continuing service shortfalls,” the Canadian Transportation Agency said.
The agency ordered the railway and shippers to provide information for the August 2007-April 2008 period, which it will use to make a final ruling.
A Canadian National spokesman said the Friday’s action was a “reiteration” of a ruling the agency made in July 2007, and the railway has already made the changes requested last year.
The changes are designed to make it easier for shippers to order rail cars in smaller groups.
CN, Canada’s largest railway, would cooperate in supplying the additional information requested by regulators, spokesman Jim Feeny said.
Rail service is a perennial issue for Canada’s grain industry, which relies on two railways to ship grain to ports that are an average of 1,500 km (940 miles) from the key Prairie growing region.
Canadian law compels CN and Canadian Pacific Railway to provide adequate service to shippers. They are Canada’s only national railways.
The shippers who launched the complaint claimed victory on Friday, saying the ruling makes it clear that railways cannot offer car booking programs that discriminate against them.
“They’re basically saying that those programs aren’t on, and I think that’s very important because that is the direction CN has taken the industry, and CP has been following behind them,” said Ward Weisensel, chief operating officer of the Canadian Wheat Board.
The shippers included Parrish and Heimbecker Ltd, Paterson Grain, North East Terminal Ltd, Providence Grain Group Inc and North West Terminal Ltd.
The group backed a similar successful complaint last year by Alberta shipper Great Northern Grain Ltd.
Canada’s three largest grain companies Viterra, James Richardson International Ltd and Cargill Ltd intervened in the recent case, saying solutions proposed by the smaller shippers could make the system less efficient.
(Additional reporting by Allan Dowd; Editing by Christian Wiessner)