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Western Canadian Shippers' Coalition (WCSC) Sept. 16 called on Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) to clarify its rail-competition stance after it Sept. 10 denied Ferroequus Railway Co. Ltd.'s application for running rights over Canadian National Railway Co.'s line between Camrose, Alberta, and Port of Prince Rupert, British Columbia.


"This decision may actually confuse how running rights can and should be applied," said WCSC Chairman Ian May in a prepared statement.


The decision's also at odds with the agency's June Naber Seed & Grain Co. Ltd. ruling, which requires CN to "find an effective remedy" to improve the shipper's service because CTA determined the Class I failed to fulfill its common-carrier obligations during crop year 2000/2001, WCSC says. (Naber Seed had asked CTA to grant Hudson Bay Railway Co. the right to operate trains over CN's lines in Melfort and Star City.)


"If the imposition of running rights and evidence of market abuse are
linked, why were running rights not imposed in the Naber Seed decision?"
asked May. "We call on Minister Collenette to expedite the tabling
of changes to the legislation to remove the apparent ambiguity surrounding this competitive-access measure".