REGINA (Staff) – When the government announced railways would be deregulated, confusion and apprehension reigned.
“No one knew what they were not allowed to do, or just how things ought to work,” said Donald Grigg.
While this sounds like the situation in Canada today, Grigg, an official with the port of Portland in Oregon, was describing the U.S. situation in the early 1980s when the federal government deregulated the national rail system.
He saw comical situations in which officials from newly competing railways were so terrified of anti-trust accusations that they would rush out of meetings in a panic if topics came up that they thought could implicate them.
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After an initial period of confusion, all parts of the rail transportation system tried to become more efficient which led to operation cuts, consolidations and layoffs, he said.
Grigg said emphasis turned to “asset utilization,” in which grain car turnaround times and other aspects of operations were rigorously analyzed and accelerated.
The American rail system is now leaner, more efficient, more competitive and is profitable, said Grigg.
He said he didn’t know how much of the American experience could be applied to what is happening in Canada now.
