Long-Haul Interswitching (LHI) - Checking your eligibility

Before you apply for LHI, you must check that you are eligible for this type of service. There are two steps:

Step 1: Check that you meet the basic requirements for eligibility.

Step 2: Check that nothing about your situation makes you ineligible.

Disclaimer: This document is a reference tool only. It is not a legal document or substitute for legal advice. At any time after we receive your application, if we have questions about your eligibility, we may ask you for more information.

Step 1: Check that you meet the basic requirements

To be an eligible shipper, you must be in one of these three situations:

Class 1 Railways

  • Canadian National (CN)
  • Canadian Pacific (CP)
  • BNSF
  • CSX
  • Norfolk Southern
  • Union Pacific
  1. You have access to only one railway company (for LHI purposes, this is the Local Carrier) at the point of origin or destination of your traffic AND that company is a Class 1 railway company.
  2. Of the railway companies you have access to at the point of origin or destination of your traffic, only one (for LHI purposes, this is the Local Carrier) is moving in the reasonable direction your traffic needs to go to get to its destination AND that company is a Class 1 railway company.
  3. The one railway company you have access to at the point of origin or destination of your traffic is not a Class 1 railway BUT there is a junction between the lines of that railway and a single other railway, which is a Class 1 (For LHI purposes, this is the Local Carrier).

In addition, both of the following must apply to you:

  1. You have tried to agree with the Local Carrier on a rate, service terms, or both AND despite your efforts, you and the Local Carrier cannot agree.
  2. There is a continuous route between the origin and destination of your traffic AND at least two federal railway companies (one is the Connecting Carrier) operate on that route.

Note: line transfers do not affect your eligibility for LHI. Your traffic's origin or destination can be on a line that has been transferred.

If you meet the basic requirements, go to Step 2.

If you do not meet the basic requirements, you are not eligible to apply for LHI.

Step 2: Check that nothing in your situation makes you ineligible

Traffic

Not all traffic is eligible under LHI. Whether it is eligible depends on:

  • the location of the traffic's point of origin or destination ("O or D point") served exclusively by the Local Carrier;
  • the type of traffic it is;
  • whether you have certain agreements or orders for this traffic; and
  • the location of the interchange.

If any of the following apply to you, then you are not eligible for LHI.

Location of the Traffic's O or D Point (served exclusively by the Local Carrier)

  1. If the O or D point is within 30 km of an interchange in Canada, and that interchange is in the reasonable direction your traffic needs to go, you are not eligible for LHI.
    • If the interchange is not in the reasonable direction you need, you are still eligible.
  2. If the O or D point is on a track that serves a reload or distribution compound, a container terminal, or any other facility, and that compound/terminal/facility is operated by the Local Carrier or used by the Local Carrier for its own purposes, you are not eligible for LHI.
  3. If the O or D point is located in the Quebec-Windsor Corridor, or in the Vancouver-Kamloops Corridor, you are not eligible for LHI.
  4. If the O or D point is on a track used by the Local Carrier to transfer traffic between cars, or to transfer traffic between a car and a warehouse owned by the Local Carrier, you are not eligible for LHI.
  5. If the distance between your O or D point and the nearest interchange in Canada is more than 1200 km, and also more than 50% of the total kilometres the traffic will move by rail within Canada, you are not eligible for LHI.

Traffic Type

  1. If the traffic you want to move is motor vehicles or their parts, you are not eligible for LHI.
  2. If the traffic you want to move is a Toxic Inhalation Hazard (TIH), you are not eligible for LHI.
  3. If the traffic you want to move is radioactive material, you are not eligible for LHI.
  4. If the traffic you want to move is moved on flat cars, and it is containers OR trailers OR oversized, with dimensions that require exceptional measures, you are not eligible for LHI.

Agreements or Orders

  1. If your traffic is covered by rates in CN's Consent Agreement with the Competition Bureau, for example, because it is moving on former BC Rail lines or lines in the Peace River area of Alberta, you are not eligible for LHI.
  2. If you already have a LHI order for the traffic, you are not eligible for LHI.

Interchanges

The location of key interchanges can also affect your eligibility.

  1. If the nearest interchange to your O or D point is in the Quebec-Windsor Corridor, or in the Vancouver-Kamloops Corridor, you are not eligible for LHI.

If the nearest interchange is located in the metropolitan area of Montreal, contact us to find out whether you are eligible for LHI.

For a description of the Quebec-Windsor Corridor and Vancouver-Kamloops Corridor, see our Guide to LHI.

This is the end of the eligibility check. You can apply for LHI if you:

  • meet the eligibility requirements in Step 1, and
  • nothing in your situation makes you ineligible, according to Step 2.

Note that you can only apply for one LHI order for the traffic you want interswitched. If you are eligible for LHI at both the origin point and destination point of the traffic, you must choose one of these for your application.

Return to LHI Application Form

If you have completed the two steps, but are still not sure whether you are eligible to apply for LHI, there are two things you can do. You can:

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