Rail transportation guides
This is a guide for railway companies, road authorities, utility companies and landowners who want or have a railway crossing. It is also for those who are having work done at their crossing. The guide sets out the CTA's assessment of typical costs, which railways may use when billing for work at crossings. The CTA may also use these assessments to resolve a dispute over the bill, if one arises. The guide covers:
- general billing (for building the crossing, maintaining its surface, and unscheduled maintenance);
- billing for the scheduled maintenance of crossing warning systems;
- the different costs and overhead rates covered in a bill (such as labour and materials); and
- the value of crossing warning material that is removed from a crossing but could be re-used elsewhere (salvage value).
See also: Railway Crossings: A Guide and Apportionment of Costs of Grade Separations: A Resource Tool
This is a guide for rail shippers and other freight rail stakeholders. It explains what information would be helpful for you to provide if you believe the CTA should open – or it has already opened – an "own-motion" investigation (OMI) into possible rail service issues. In particular, the guide explains:
- the purpose of OMIs;
- the information the CTA needs to open an OMI;
- the kinds of information you could provide; and
- the key OMI question your information helps answer.
This is a guide for shippers. It explains:
- shippers' right to railway service in Canada;
- the level of service the railway must provide (adequate and suitable);
- the two ways of getting service terms and a rate (contracts and tariffs);
- the right some shippers have to interswitching (the transfer of freight between two railways) at a regulated rate; and
- shippers' options for resolving disputes about service and rates.
This is a guide for grain shippers, farmers, and others in the grain industry. It explains the Maximum Revenue Entitlement (MRE) Program for the movement of western grain by rail. Specifically, the guide describes:
- what the MRE is;
- what railway companies (railways) the MRE applies to;
- what types of crops and routes the MRE covers;
- how the MRE is calculated; and
- what happens if a railway goes above its MRE.
This is a guide for landowners, road authorities, utility companies, and railways that want or have a railway crossing. It explains how to prevent and resolve disputes about building, maintaining, and paying for a crossing. The guide includes:
- information for landowners who want to cross a railway line on or right next to their land, including the two types of such crossings;
- information for road authorities, utility companies and railways about road and utility crossings, including how to create a crossings agreement and give us a copy; and
- how the CTA can help resolve crossings disputes;
- how to ask the CTA for its help, including what information to provide.
See also: Apportionment of Costs of Grade Separations: A Resource Tool and Railway Operation Compensation: A Resource Tool. Railways may also be interested in Railway Crossings of Other Railways: A Resource Tool.
This page has been archived on the Web.
This guide is for railways that want to construct a railway line. It also has information for people who could be affected by the line's construction or operation. The guide explains:
- when and how a railway must apply for CTA approval to construct a line;
- other approvals the railway may need;
- steps the railway must take before it applies (including how it must engage people and Indigenous groups who could be affected);
- what information the railway must include in its application; and
- how the CTA reviews the application and makes a decision.
This is a guide for shippers who want to apply to the CTA for a Long-Haul Interswitching (LHI) order. It is also for the railway companies to which the order would apply. The guide provides general information about LHI, and explains:
- which shippers, traffic, and interchanges are eligible for LHI,
- how to apply, and
- how the CTA reviews applications and decides what to include in the LHI order.
This is a guide for shippers and railways that are involved in level of service arbitration. It explains what happens if the shipper submits an issue for arbitration that the railway believes is not eligible. The guide explains:
- the railway's right to formally object to including the issue in the arbitration;
- the deadline for the railway to submit its objection and the information it must include;
- the process the CTA uses to consider objections, including the possibility that it would hold a hearing with the shipper and the railway (and other witnesses if needed); and
- the documents or information the shipper and railway would have to provide during the process, and the deadlines for providing them.
See also: Freight Rail Service and Rates: A Guide