Rail shipper protection under the Canada Transportation Act : Protection des expéditeurs du rail en vertu de la Loi sur les transports au Canada

If the railway company and the shipper do not agree on the rate, the shipper may apply to the Agency to set the rate. [...] Specifically, the running rights contained in sections 138 and 139 of the CTA permit any federally regulated railway to apply to the Agency for the right to: • take possession of, use or occupy any land belonging to another federal railway company; • use the whole or any portion of the right-of-way, tracks, terminals, stations or station grounds of any other federal railway company; and • run and [...] Furthermore, stakeholders consider that the right of a guest railway to compete for traffic on the host railway’s line is essential if the intent of the provision is to introduce competition in the rail freight market. [...] Proposed new section 120.1 would allow a shipper to complain to the Agency about charges, and the associated terms and conditions, for the movement of traffic or for the provision of incidental services in a tariff that applies to more than one shipper. [...] In both cases, the railway and the shipper provide their respective final offers to the arbitrator (or panel of arbitrators), who chooses the one that both the railway and the shipper must abide by.