6 RAIL TRANSPORTATION

INDUSTRY STRUCTURE

The number of rail carriers more than doubled in the 1990s, dramatically altering the character of the industry. Despite these changes, CN and CPR continued to generate the bulk of revenues in the rail industry. In 2004, the rail industry generated $8.9 billion in revenues. The Class I carriers, namely CN, CPR and VIA Rail, generated 90 per cent of this total, only slightly less than their 90.5 per cent share in 1990. Despite this, Class I carrier revenues grew 1.6 per cent per year from 1990 to 2004. By contrast, revenues of the regional² railways (BC Rail, Algoma Central,³ Ontario Northland, Cartier Railway and the Quebec North Shore & Labrador) fell by 0.3 per cent per year up to 2002. Since Algoma Central's takeover by CN, this rate has jumped to 1.0 per cent per year for the 1990 – 2004 period. Shortline revenues grew 11.6 per cent per year over this period, from $95 million in 1990 to $444 million in 2004. The shortline sector's proportion of rail industry revenues grew from 1.5 to 5.3 per cent over this period.

Table 6-3 compares revenues in the railway sector in 2003 and 2004. Addendum Table A6-3 shows revenues since 1994.

TABLE 6-3: RAILWAY REVENUES, 2003 AND 2004
(Millions of dollars)
	2003	2004
CN	4,002	4,275
CPR	3,010	3,263
VIA Rail	415	421
Subtotal Class I	7,427	7,959
Regional ¹	467	451
Shortlines ¹	405	444
Total	8,299	8,854

Estimated for several carriers.

Source: Transport Canada, Statistics Canada

VIA Rail continues to dominate the intercity rail passenger sector. It accounted for 92 per cent of total passenger revenues in 2004. CN (former Algoma Central Railway services), Ontario Northland and the Quebec North Shore & Labrador provide the balance of intercity rail passenger services. The Great Canadian Railtour Company provides seasonal services between Vancouver and Calgary and Jasper. The American corporation Amtrak offers service to Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto (the latter in conjunction with VIA Rail).

² Regional railways are larger carriers that operate over relatively long distances and whose traffic consists mainly of natural resources. Return

³ 2002 was the final year that Algoma Central was recognized as a separate entity for operating and financial reporting purposes. All reporting has now been integrated under CN Rail. Return

Freight Transportation

Passenger Traffic

Price, Productivity and Financial Performance