A privately owned rail transloading facility at Weyburn, Sask., is expected to open in January. Carter Stewart, operations general manager for Weyburn Industrial Transload, said the required rail line has been built and after some test runs and ensuring the computer system works, the facility will open. It’s designed to transfer commodities off or on […] Read more
Tag Archives rail transportation

Improvements at elevators hasten grain movement: CP
Recent investments in the grain handling and railway sectors are having a positive impact on Western Canada’s ability to move grain quickly and efficiently. Earlier this month, Calgary-based Canadian Pacific Railway announced that it has set yet another monthly record for the movement of western Canadian grain and grain products. In October, the company moved […] Read more

CN orders 60 more locomotives, cites growth in rail volumes
Canadian National Railway plans to add 60 additional locomotives to its fleet, the company announced this week. The Montreal-based railway has placed an order with GE Transportation for 60 more locomotives, expanding a previous order for 200 new locomotives that was placed by CN in December 2017. “With strong demand across our business, we continue […] Read more

CP Rail workers serve strike notice
Teamsters Canada and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have provided Canadian Pacific Railway notice that the railroad’s workers will head to the picket lines on April 21. The company and union appear to have reached an impasse in talks. The Teamsters, along with another union, represents more than a quarter of the company’s workforce […] Read more

Railways to repay $7.1 million under revenue cap formula
Canada’s two largest railway companies will be required to pay more than $7.1 million to the Western Grains Research Foundation because the freight revenues they collected for moving western Canadian grain exceeded the revenue cap. According to an online document dated Dec. 21, the Canadian Transportation Agency has determined that Canadian National Railway exceeded its […] Read more

CN tackles grain delays
Grain shippers are getting nervous about Canadian National Railway’s faltering performance this fall, but the carrier says it has implemented changes that are already having an impact on service. CN’s performance measures have been plunging since Week 11 of the 2017-18 crop year. Its hopper car order fulfilment rate was 75 percent through Week 16 […] Read more

Transportation bill heads to the Senate
A federal bill aimed at improving Canada’s transportation systems and ensuring better rail service for shippers passed third reading in the House of Commons Wednesday and is off to the Senate. If passed, the Transportation Modernization Act will provide greater certainty for western Canadian grain shippers that depend on Canadian railway companies to transport grain […] Read more

Future of branch lines depend on volume
Canadian Pacific Railway says it will continue to review its Canadian rail network in an effort to improve safety and find operational efficiencies. However, CP officials declined to comment specifically on the future of western Canadian branch lines that are slated for discontinuance in the company’s three-year rail network plan. “As per the Canadian Transportation […] Read more

Canadian National Railway sets new grain hauling record
The company exceeded its previous record by two percent, handling 21.8 million tonnes of grain and oilseeds in 2016-17
Canada’s largest railway company moved record volumes of western Canadian grain in the 2016-17 crop year, despite a slow start to the shipping season caused by wet weather that delayed prairie harvesting operations last fall. Canadian National Railway shipped 21.8 million tonnes of western Canadian grain and oilseeds in 2016-17, roughly two percent more than […] Read more
Canada to keep revenue cap on rail grain shipments, farmers glad
OTTAWA, May 16 (Reuters) – The federal government said on Tuesday it planned to maintain a revenue cap on western grain that railways haul for export, a move farmers praised. Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway firms oppose the cap, formally known as the maximum revenue entitlement (MRE). It dates back to 2000 and […] Read more