Rail Complaint Program

The Rail Complaint Program consists of procedures available to users of rail freight services who are dissatisfied with levels of rail rates or services. The Canadian Transportation Agency (the Agency) is responsible for providing services that assist in resolving economic disputes involving both freight rates and levels of service between shippers and carriers.

Eligibility Criteria

Any user of federally-regulated rail freight services, including shippers, port authorities, provinces, municipalities, other carriers and the general public. Federally-regulated railways are those that cross provincial or international boundaries, as well as certain others which don't meet this criteria, but have been deemed by Parliament to be federally-regulated. Generally, railways that do not cross provincial boundaries are regulated by the respective province.

Summary

The Agency provides various types of services to resolve economic disputes between shippers and carriers. There are formal avenues of complaint specified by the various acts that the Agency is directed to administer, and for which specific procedures must be followed. There are also informal services available in which the Agency can assist in resolving disputes between parties without resorting to formal Agency procedures. Finally, there are arbitration services available, in which the arbitrators are chosen by the parties or the Agency, should the parties not be able to reach agreement on an arbitrator.

Regulation and Competition
The Canada Transportation Act is the primary legislation affecting Agency services. The main philosophy of the Act is to promote competition, both between railways and between the rail industry, and other transportation modes. This competition is meant to act as the main regulator of the rail industry - healthy competition between carriers results in competitive rates and services for users. Thus, many of the avenues of recourse available to shippers are meant to ensure that these shippers have competitive options when transporting their products.

Shipper/Carrier Agreements
Pricing and service agreements between shippers and carriers normally take one of two forms - tariffs or confidential contracts. In confidential contracts, shippers and carriers agree to specific conditions respecting the movement of goods. Since both parties agree to a contract, there is limited recourse available before the Agency, should one party or the other become dissatisfied with the agreement. Generally, the Agency is bound by the terms of the agreement in making any determinations on matters brought before it.

Rate Complaints
In general, railways may set any rate for a movement. The Agency's involvement in rate matters is largely restricted to situations where shippers have no other transportation options to move their goods.

Carriers must also publish joint rates with other carriers, so as to allow continuous carriage of traffic between origins and destinations that require movement over more than one railway.

Competitive Access Complaints
As mentioned above, there are options available to shippers served by only one railway (captive shippers) that can provide access to the lines of other carriers. Competitive Line Rates (CLRs) and extended interswitching each provide captive shippers with direct access to the lines of other railways at Agency-prescribed rate levels. Under each of these procedures, carriers must deliver and interchange the goods of a captive shipper with another railway, if requested to do so by the shipper. The Agency may prescribe a rate that shall apply to the required movement.

Service Complaints
Carriers are charged to accept, provide equipment for, and transport all goods tendered by shippers. If carrier resources are over-burdened, carriers must accommodate traffic as best they can, to serve the needs of all users. The following are among the services directly specified in the legislation:

• supply of rolling stock and motive power;
• provision of facilities to accept, load, unload and deliver goods;
• prompt and direct transportation of goods; and
• interchange of goods with other carriers, including provision of connections with other railways.

Submission of Formal Complaints to the Agency
A shipper (or person or carrier) may formally apply to the Agency for resolution of any of the matters described above. Where the application is made to the Agency by a shipper in respect of a transportation rate or service, the Agency may grant the relief sought if it is satisfied that the applicant would suffer substantial commercial harm if the relief were not granted.  By law, the Agency is charged to resolve most such matters within a prescribed time period.

The Agency is a regulatory tribunal with the powers of a superior court. As such, it has a requisite set of procedures that must be followed in any of the formal avenues of recourse discussed above. The Canadian Transportation Agency General Rules provide a detailed description of how to apply to the Agency for recourse concerning actions by federally-regulated railways.

Informal Services Provided by the Agency
The Rail and Marine Branch also provides informal services to shippers who encounter problems with railways. Often, following complaint by a shipper, Branch officers contact and meet with appropriate staff of both the shippers and the railway(s) to discuss the problem. In many cases, some sort of mutually acceptable solution can be found, possibly avoiding the time and expense involved in a formal procedure.

Third Party Services
Should the parties to a dispute prefer to bring a matter before an independent (non-Agency) third party, the Rail and Marine Branch (on behalf of the Agency) maintains a list of arbitrators who are available to provide services in resolving disputes. Under the Canada Transportation Act, such arbitrations are final offers in nature. Matters governed by a confidential contract may not be submitted to arbitration unless all the parties to the contract agree.

Traffic Information Services
The Rail Branch maintains an information database of rail traffic statistics. Portions of these statistics are available to shippers, provincial governments and other interested parties. Information concerning freight volumes, traffic patterns and other movement characteristics are available, subject to confidentiality requirements. This database also has the capability to provide graphical representations of some of this information, as well as geographic representations of the Canadian rail network.

New Brunswick Contact(s):
See National Contact.

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National Contact(s):
Mr. Jed Cochrane
Manager
Rail Complaints and Investigations Rail and Marine Branch
Canadian Transportation Agency
Terrasses de la Chaudière
15 Eddy Street
Gatineau, Quebec  K1A 0N9
Telephone: (819) 997-1081
Fax: (819) 953-5564

Director
Rail and Marine Complaints and Audit Services
Canadian Transportation Agency
Terrasses de la Chaudière
15 Eddy Street
Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 0N9
Telephone: 819-953-0374
Fax: 819-953-5564
Toll-free (information): 1-888-222-2592
TTY Toll-free (hearing impaired): 1-800-669-5575
E-mail: cta.comment@cta-otc.gc.ca

Director General
Rail and Marine Branch
Canadian Transportation Agency
Terrasses de la Chaudière
15 Eddy Street
Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 0N9
Telephone: 819-953-4657
Fax: 819-953-5564 / 819-953-5686
Toll-free (information): 1-888-222-2592
TTY Toll-free (hearing impaired): 1-800-669-5575
E-mail: cta.comment@cta-otc.gc.ca