The countdown to the lockdown deadline set by the railways runs out at one minute past midnight tonight. Photo: stu99/iStock/Getty Images

Canada’s rail freight traffic at full stop

Ontario Bean Growers calls the lack of government intervention in rail labour dispute as a 'black eye to our industry'

Canada’s freight rail traffic has ground to a halt after the country’s two largest railways have locked out workers after failed labour negotiations. The simultaneous lockout by both Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City railway took effect at 12:01 a.m. this morning. In a statement Aug. 20, the Ontario Bean Growers called the […] Read more




(CPR.ca)

Railway reluctance on drainage costs will be carried downstream

If federally regulated railways don’t pay for drainage repair and upgrades, landowners and municipalities will pay the price

Railway companies are more frequently refusing to pay for drainage infrastructure costs, some Ontario municipalities say. David Taylor, director of legal services at the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, said the railways claim the province cannot constitutionally apply its rules to interprovincial railways, which are federally regulated. “We’ve always had a positive experience working with railways, and […] Read more


CN closes deal on Iowa railway

CN closes deal on Iowa railway

The agreement will link about 275 track miles to the carrier's U.S. rail network

Canadian National Railway (CN) has inked a deal to buy an Iowa railway and connect it to its U.S. rail network, the company announced Dec. 6.

(Orchidpoet/iStock/Getty Images)

Go bigger on interswitching pilot, grain groups urge Ottawa

Railways say the measure creates inefficiencies; farm groups say the opposite is true

Farm groups from across the country are asking producers to lobby federal ministers and MPs and urge them to super-size a government proposal for what’s called ‘extended interswitching.’ The measure, part of this spring’s federal budget, essentially gives grain shippers a choice in which railway they deal with (as long as the competitor’s line is […] Read more



Signage outside an IBEW office in Winnipeg. (File photo by Dave Bedard)

CN signals staff to return to work Wednesday

IBEW, railway to go to binding arbitration

Signals and communications workers at Canadian National Railway (CN) are set to end their 17-day strike and return to work Wednesday morning. CN, in a statement Monday, said the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) System Council 11, which represents about 750 of the company’s employees across the country, had agreed to take its labour […] Read more

Most of the car wheelsets from the 2019 derailment were recovered for “further examination and testing,” the Transportation Safety Board said. (TSB photo)

CP disputes TSB’s conclusions on fatal grain train crash

Safety board urges automatic parking brakes, 'enhanced' brake testing for conditions

The federal Transportation Safety Board’s report into the fatal derailment of a Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) grain train in the Rocky Mountains in 2019 calls for changes to train braking systems and maintenance. CP, however, is questioning the TSB’s conclusions about the braking performance of the train involved, saying those conclusions are “based on inappropriate […] Read more