Lower grain traffic compared to last year’s record crop year hasn’t translated to lower third-quarter grain revenue for Canadian National Railway (CN). Montreal-based CN on Tuesday booked overall net income of $1.007 billion on $3.222 billion in gross revenue for its third quarter (Q3) ending Sept. 30, up from $853 million on $3.118 billion in […] Read more
More grain revenue on less grain in CN’s Q3 ledger
Tumour surgery to sideline CN chief
The CEO of Canada’s biggest rail network expects to be off work until late fall for surgery and radiation treatments on a precancerous tumour. Canadian National Railway’s (CN) chief executive Claude Mongeau said Wednesday he expects to have surgery either near the end of this month or early in September, to remove a rare type […] Read more
Group calls for sweeping changes to curb railways’ ‘monopolistic behaviour’
Crops Logistics Working Group wants penalties for not delivering rail cars and meaningful sharing of data
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ongoing assessment and better protection for small shippers are two ways to fix the grain transportation system. Those are two of eight recommendations made by the Crop Logistics Working Group as part of a review of the Canada Transportation Act. More on the Alberta Farmer: Eight fixes for an ailing grain shipping system The working group […] Read more
Eight fixes for an ailing grain shipping system
Reading Time: 3 minutes Here are excerpts from the Crop Logistics Working Group (CLWG) on its eight recommendations to improve the grain-handling and transportation system. The full report can be found here. Recommendation 1: Enhance Transparency in the Rail Market CLWG members request that the government encourage CN and CP to accurately report car order fulfilment data in a […] Read more
CWB’s chosen suitor weighs West Coast terminal idea
The new Prairie grain player tapped to take a majority stake in the former Canadian Wheat Board is now considering the possibility of its own port terminal. Bunge Canada and Saudi-owned crown corporation SALIC Canada, in their joint venture G3 Global Holdings, have agreed to a separate joint venture with West Coast port logistics firm […] Read more
Cost index trimmed for railways’ grain revenue cap
A sharper-than-expected drop in fuel costs has led federal regulators to dial back the index that decides how much money railways get to keep from hauling Prairie grain. The Canadian Transportation Agency on announced Thursday it will cut its volume-related composite price index (VRCPI) by 5.6 per cent, to 1.2517, for the 2015-16 crop year. […] Read more
CN, CP book higher grain revenues in Q1
A bump in gross revenue from grain handling helped to improve first-quarter results for both of Canada’s big two railways. Canadian National Railway (CN) on Monday reported overall net income of $704 million on $3.098 billion in revenue for the quarter ending March 31, up from $623 million on $2.693 billion in the year-earlier period. […] Read more
CN grain train derails near Calgary
Reuters — Twenty-four grain cars on a Canadian National Railway (CN) train derailed northeast of Calgary on Friday morning without injury or dangerous goods involved, RCMP said. The derailment on the 104-car train took place near the village of Kathyrn and Highway 9, at 10 a.m. MT, RCMP from nearby Beiseker said in a release, […] Read more
Railways’ mandatory minimum grain handles ending
Canada’s big two railways can resume moving grain at their own pace as the federal government’s order in council setting mandatory minimum grain traffic quotas is set to expire unrenewed. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Transport Minister Lisa Raitt announced the federal government won’t renew the mandatory minimums, which are due to expire Saturday. The […] Read more
Raitt won’t tell railways where to ship grain for now
Ottawa | Reuters — The Canadian government will not, for now, start telling railways where to ship farmers’ grain but it will decide within days whether to extend its requirements on how much grain they must haul, Transport Minister Lisa Raitt said Wednesday. In an interview in her parliamentary office, Raitt said farmers and shippers […] Read more
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