Decision No. 229-R-1988
August 13, 1988
IN THE MATTER OF the application by the Canadian National Railway Company for authority to abandon the operation of the Grenville Spur off mileage 15.60 of the Montfort Subdivision between Grenmont (mileage 0.00) and Saint-André Est (mileage 17.70) (hereinafter the branch line) in the Province of Quebec, a total distance of 17.70 miles.
File No. 39310.244
HISTORY OF THE APPLICATION
On September 9, 1987 Canadian National, the Applicant, applied pursuant to Section 253 of the Railway Act, R.S.C. 1970, c. R-2, for authority to abandon the operation of the Grenville Spur off mileage 15.60 of the Montfort Subdivision between Grenmont (M. 0.00) and Saint-André Est (M. 17.70), a distance of 17.70 miles, in the Province of Quebec.
With the proclamation January 1, 1988 of the National Transportation Act, 1987, S.C. 1987, c. 34, this application is now deemed to have been made pursuant to subsection 160(7).
HISTORY OF THE LINE
On July 28, 1847, "The Carillon and Grenville Railway Company" was incorporated to build a railway from Carillon to Grenville. On May 4, 1859, the "Carillon and Grenville Railway Company" was incorporated to purchase at a Sheriff's sale that part of the railway already constructed and to complete construction between Carillon and Grenville. The Canadian Northern Ontario Railway Company was incorporated on July 20, 1905, and acquired the assets of the "Carillon and Grenville Railway Company". Track was completed and opened for traffic from Mt. Royal (M. 5.81) to Grenville (M. 47.62) on July 18, 1916.
By 1981, the Grenville Spur comprised the rail line from Grenmont (M. 0.00) to Grenville (M. 30.80); the portion of the Grenville Spur from Saint-André Est (M. 17.70) to Grenville (M. 30.80) was abandoned pursuant to Order No. R-31954 on April 13, 1981.
LOCATION OF THE LINE
A map of the area is attached as Appendix "1".
The Grenville Spur originates at M. 15.6 on the Montfort Subdivision, extends westward for a distance of 17.7 miles. The stations situated on the line are Grenmont (M. 0.00), St. Benoit (M. 5.21), St. Placide (M. 8.88), Lalande (M. 12.28) and Saint-André Est (M. 17.70).
The Grenville Spur cuts through land used for agriculture. The village of Saint-André Est is the most populated area along the line.
PHYSICAL CONDITION OF THE LINE
There has not been any traffic over this line since 1985. There are 14 public crossings and 5 bridges. The roadbed is free of weed and brush up to mile 12.0. The remaining section of the roadbed has not been cleared of the growing vegetation. While the drainage is fair, many culverts are in bad condition. The fencing is also in bad condition.
The track structure is composed of 80 lbs rail and crushed rock ballast in fair condition. The ties are in bad condition and wide gauge conditions were observed at many locations. The alignment and the surface of the track is fair.
The bridges were found in a state of disrepair, especially the one at mileage 17.20 where the timber supporting the bridge is in a badly decayed condition.
All the automatic protective devices at public crossings have been removed and only reflectorized crossing signs are protecting the level crossings.
There is no regular maintenance crew assigned along the spur. The maintenance is done on an as and when required basis by the maintenance crew at Val-Royal. There is no patrol made on a regular basis of this spur track.
It does not appear that the line is in a condition that would permit a train to operate without first providing substantial repairs to the track and bridges.
In summary, the line is in a bad state of disrepair. Extensive repairs to the track and bridges would have to be undertaken before train operation could be restored.
DESCRIPTION OF SERVICE
There is presently no rail service on this branch line. There has been no traffic moved over the line since 1985 when 2 carloads were brought in to St. Placide at mile point 8.88. There is only one possible customer for rail service on this branch line, Goodfellow Inc., located at both Saint-André Est and Val-Royal (on the Montfort Subdivision just south of Grenmont). This customer has been taking delivery of carloads destined for Saint-André at his Val-Royal siding and moving them by truck to Saint-André.
Pursuant to a condition imposed by the CTC in 1984 relating to the approval of a temporary disruption of service, CN paid this customer $750.00 per carload to handle its traffic in this manner. Both parties have allowed this arrangementNote 1 to continue, resulting in the complete cessation of rail traffic on this Spur.
CARLOAD TRAFFIC
The main commodities on the line were lumber, agricultural implements and electrical equipment. Rail traffic decreased substantially from 1984 to 1985. No traffic was reported since 1986. It should be noted that, between 1984 and September 1987 Goodfellow, according to information on file, has received over 457 carloads at Val Royal under the CN arrangement described above.
Year | Saint-André Est | St. Benoit | St. Placide | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
In | Out | In | Out | In | Out | ||
1984 | 47 | - | 4 | 1 | - | - | 52 |
1985 | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | 2 |
1986 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
1987Note 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
ACTUAL LOSSES
Where an application is opposed under section 161, the Agency in accordance with section 163 of the Act issues a statement of actual loss incurred in respect of the subject branch line operation. The determinations for 1985 and 1986 were based on a preliminary submission and have been provided to indicate the continuing trend of actual losses incurred in the operation of this line.
The "Actual Losses" as determined by the National Transportation Agency, pursuant to the provisions of the Railway Costing Regulations and section 157 of the National Transportation Act, 1987 for the years 1984 through 1986 are as follows:
Year | Total Costs$ | Revenues$ | Actual Losses$ | Loss per Carload |
---|---|---|---|---|
1984 | 217,633 | 217,668 | (35) | 0 |
1985 | 27,517 | 9,616 | 17,901 | 8,951 |
1986 | 33,010 | 6,030 | 26,980 | no carloads |
ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
- Rail
- Alternative CN and CP rail services are available at the CN Deux-Montagnes and at the CP Lachute station. The Deux-Montagnes station is 28 miles from Saint-André Est; the Lachute station on the CP Lachute Subdivision is situated 7 miles away.
- Highways
- The municipalities situated on the Grenville Spur are served by Provincial Highway No. 148 and by secondary highways 327 and 341. These are all weather roads with normal restrictions during snow storms and spring thaw. There are seven trucking companies licensed to serve the area.
SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE
Canadian National Railway Company
CN provided the following evidence in its application. Regarding future railway traffic in the area, CN suggested that there is no major industrial development anticipated that will require long term railway services along this spur line. CN has no plans for future or proposed services it can market on the spur line. The only customer now on the line is being served satisfactorily by truck from the customer's unloading site at Val-Royal, therefore all freight traffic destined for the spur line will be unaffected by the abandonment. Other lines or carriers would be unaffected since the traffic volume destined for this spur line is so low. Current train service is already at a minimum and no operational changes are feasible which might make the line profitable.
On September 9th 1987 a Notice was published notifying the public and interested parties of the application for abandonment. On June 6, 1988 another Notice was distributed. No responses were received in reply to the latter Notice. The following information was received as a result of the first Notice.
Ministry of Transport, Government of Quebec
L. Hinse, assistant Deputy Minister, advised by letter that the Ministry has no major objection to the abandonment. This position is with reservations and was submitted with comments for consideration. The Ministry alleges the Applicant abandoned efforts to market its services and find new customers as well as encouraged patronization of intermodal services and use of alternative delivery points off the Spur. This, Mr. Hinse concludes, is a strategy to eliminate the traffic and the need for the Spur. The Ministry proposed that CN intentions were not properly communicated to its customers and that customers must be kept better informed about the carrier's plans. Lastly, Mr. Hinse offers the view that the Ministry finds it difficult to oppose an abandonment application when the traffic has already disappeared and the railway company has achieved a situation of de facto abandonment.
Goodfellow Inc.
By letter of September 22, 1987 Mr. R. Goodfellow representing Goodfellow Inc. advised the Agency the company receives about 100 carloads a year destined for Saint-André Est and opposes the application and that if his transportation costs rose the employment of his 50 Saint-André workers might be in jeopardy.
MATTERS CONSIDERED
Section 164 of the National Transportation Act, 1987 requires the Agency to determine first whether the branch line is uneconomic, and if so, whether there is a reasonable probability of it becoming economic in the foreseeable future.
The Agency determines that the line is uneconomic as has been demonstrated by the actual losses in recent prescribed financial periods. Average losses over 1985-1986 were $22,000 and preliminary information for 1987 suggests losses in that year of $18,000. As current train service is already at a minimum, there remain no changes in operation which could further reduce the costs of operating the line, thus changing this economic status. Significant repairs would be required before operations on the line could be restored, no cost estimates were available. Thus, excluding this unknown amount for the capital investment required to renovate the line, the Agency expects annual losses to be a minimum of $18,000 in the future unless significant volumes of new traffic can be found. The Agency notes that the Applicant makes no mention in its application of the fact that the "only customer on this portion of the line" who is "already being served by truck" is doing so because of a subsidy, albeit temporary, being paid to him by CN.
As to the possibility of the line becoming economic in the foreseeable future, the only customer on the line has converted to a trucking operation three years ago. Considering Goodfellow has not indicated it would revert to using the Spur rail service or the CP Lachute track the Agency thus concludes that this customer is unlikely to offer in future a significant volume of rail traffic to the Spur.
As there is no other industry in the area which indicated to the Agency that it could generate new freight traffic, there is no reason to conclude there will be any change in the trend for traffic and the demand for rail services on this branch line. Accordingly, the Agency determines that there is no reasonable probability of the branch line becoming economic in the foreseeable future.
FINDINGS
Subsection 165(1) of the National Transportation Act, 1987 states that where the Agency determines the branch line is uneconomic and likely to remain so the Agency shall order the operation of the branchline abandoned.
The Agency has made these determinations and therefore must conclude that the operation of the Grenville Spur on the Montfort Subdivision from Grenmont (mile 0.00) to Saint-André Est (mile 17.70) must be abandoned.
Section 168 of the Act governs the time limits with which the Agency must order the abandonment of a branch line as follows:
"168(1) Where the Agency makes an order under section 162, 165, 166 or 175 for the abandonment of a branch line... it shall fix,
(b)such date for abandonment as it considers in the public interest...
(2)A date fixed under paragraph 1(b) shall not be less than thirty days or more than one year from the date of the order."
The Agency determines that it would be in the public interest for the line to be abandoned thirty days from the date of the Order giving effect to this decision. An Order will be issued accordingly.
Notes
- Note 1
-
Payment in lieu of rail service from Val-Royal to Saint-André Est
- Note 2
-
Based on a preliminary submission
- Date modified: