GrainsConnect Canada held a sod-turning for its first high-throughput grain terminal in Western Canada on Tuesday. The elevator will be built on CN Rail’s Prairie North line at Maymont, Saskatchewan, 90 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon. “This is a significant milestone for GrainsConnect Canada as it represents the first stage of our substantial investment in Canadian… Read More
Tag: CN Rail
Dear Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway, It’s only the middle of June right now, but there’s potential for a big crop in Western Canada this fall. Alberta’s latest crop report pegged growing conditions at 80 percent good to excellent, eight percent better than the five-year average. The Saskatchewan ag ministry’s most recent update also… Read More
CN Rail on Thursday announced a multi-year program to spend around $500 million to improve its feeder rail lines in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. A news release from the company does not mention grain, but indicates the upgrades will occur on lines “handling rising volumes of industrial products, natural resources and energy-related commodities.” Approximately $100 million… Read More
CN Rail exceeded its volume-based “cap” on grain revenue in the 2013-14 crop year by almost $5 million, according to a ruling issued by the Canadian Transportation Agency today. The CTA says CN’s grain revenue of $672,110,852 was $4,981,915 above its entitlement of $667,128,937. Under federal regulations, the railway now has 30 days to pay the… Read More
The federal government is extending — but also reducing — the weekly minimum grain shipping requirements for Canada’s two national railways, as it aims to resolve the remainder of the grain backlog in Western Canada. A new Order in Council will take effect on Sunday, November 30th and require CN and CP Rail move between 200,000 and 465,000 tonnes of grain… Read More
Canada’s two major railways have changed they way they process requests for grain cars in Western Canada. To deter shippers from ordering more cars than they can handle, both Canadian National and Canadian Pacific are capping the number of outstanding orders a grain shipper can have in their systems. As of September 14th, the total… Read More
The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has decided it will not hear the Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA) Level of Service Complaint originally filed on May 26, 2014. In its decision, which responds to motions to dismiss from both railways, the CTA concluded there was not sufficient evidence to proceed with the complaint, according to a… Read More
The organization representing major grain elevator companies in Western Canada says it believes both Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) have failed to meet weekly grain shipping requirements for extended periods of time since the weekly minimum thresholds were implemented back in March. The federal agriculture minister confirmed last week that the… Read More
The National Energy Board has published some interesting numbers as data tallies were finalized for 2013’s fourth quarter. The data shows drastic increases in rail movement of crude oil from 2012 to 2013. In 2012, October to December rail movement of crude oil was tallied at a little over 1.1M cubic metres (12.6K m³ per day). In… Read More
An abrupt farewell to the jig-inspiring music and the busy clinks and clangs of dishes filled the silence. The webcast streaming from the Winnipeg Chamber of Congress began and Claude Mongeau was set to hit the stage. Mongeau’s stance on logistics was likely already understood by all in attendance, given his role as CN’s president… Read More
A three-year deal still needs to be ratified by workers, but Canadian National (CN) railway reports today that a tentative deal has been struck with the Teamsters union and a rail strike has been averted. The threatened strike would have crippled an already severely taxed logistics system trying to move the huge 2013 crop. As… Read More