A CANADIAN Pacific Railway official recently stated that the company is wary about investing in its main line to Vancouver because it fears other railways may be granted permission to use its tracks.
Such statements should be taken with a grain of salt.
Judy Harrower, CP Rail’s general manager of domestic intermodal traffic, told a Transport Institute conference in Winnipeg that the railway is already experiencing congestion on its Moose Jaw to Vancouver line and it expects the problem to worsen.
Expanding the track and upgrading the line would fix the problem, Harrower said, but the company is reluctant to invest so long as open access running rights, which would permit competing carriers to run on CP tracks, are a possibility. She called on Ottawa to eliminate once and for all the possibility of open access running rights.
Read Also
Rural emergency room closures continue to be vexing problem
Staffing issues are at the root of disruptions and closures in hospital emergency departments, both in rural and urban Canadian locations.
It is understandable and expected that CP will look after its long-term interests, but it’s hard to imagine the possibility of open access is enough to convince it to rethink investment in a lucrative part of its business.
With Asian trade continuing to be a main focus for Canadian shippers, port officials on the West Coast have announced they must expand to meet the growing demand for goods moving through the region. Vancouver and Prince Rupert ports have presumably done their homework and based their decisions on sound business models, which CP ignores at its peril.
If rail expansion to the West Coast makes sound business sense, which it appears to do given the projections for future traffic, then it should be safe to assume CP will base its decisions on the long-term good health of the company.
It will presumably do what it must to serve and maintain its customers Ñ farmers and others Ñ and keep its operations efficient and profitable for shareholders.
Open access to rail lines has been minimal to date, making it difficult to imagine that it could derail needed investment. CP’s alternative is to forgo expansion and risk letting its level of service fall behind its competitor. Surely the remote possibility of open access running rights is a less threatening future than that.
The prime concern for the federal government is thus to ensure a vibrant, competitive system that provides good, affordable service to all shippers, including farmers.
The potential for open access running rights does exist, and it offers the farmers the possibility that they could someday be offered more shipping choices should Canada’s two major rail lines fail to live up to service commitments.
Last year, CP reported a net income of $413 million. It was able to do so thanks to good business decisions and investment in key areas.
It will only be good business for CP to invest in infrastructure, regardless of the running rights issue.
