Letter Decision No. LET-R-146-2000

This refers to the letter of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company (CP) dated May 25, 2000, in which CP requests the Canadian Transportation Agency (the Agency) to issue an order urgently with respect to the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) requiring it to remove the cement blocks preventing passage through the south crossing at Ste-Rosalie, to put an end to all work to dismantle the railway crossings and to allow free movement of traffic at the crossings. CP is making this application pursuant to the agreement entered into between the Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada and the Lake Champlain and St. Lawrence Junction Railway Company on October 22, 1877, and filed with the Agency on May 25, 2000 (see Order No. 2000-AGR-182). In support of its application, CP alleges the irremediable prejudice that would be suffered by the shipper Leblanc et Lafrance, which is served by the Quebec Southern Railway Company and by the railway companies involved.

In May 26, 2000, CN filed its answer to the CP application. In its pleadings, CN, among other things, contests the Agency's jurisdiction in this matter, as the railway infrastructure in question is the responsibility of the provincially regulated Quebec Southern Railway Company. CN further alleges the unsafe state of the railway crossings. Should the Agency determine that it has jurisdiction over the Quebec Southern Railway Company, CN requests the Agency to grant it trackage rights between the point of interchange of CN and the Quebec Southern Railway Company and the private facilities of Leblanc et Lafrance on the terms and conditions set out in its letter of May 8, 2000.

The Agency notes that the agreement in question, having been filed with the Agency pursuant to section 99 of the Canada Transportation Act, becomes an order of the Agency. The Agency also notes, notwithstanding CN's arguments, that the agreement, on its face, allows the movement of traffic across the railway crossings.

In the light of the above information, the Agency needs the time necessary to review the pleadings and obtain additional information to allow it to make its final decision in this matter. However, the Agency is concerned for the interests of all the parties involved, including the Leblanc et Lafrance company in so far as it benefits from adequate and suitable accommodation for the shipment of its traffic.

For these reasons, the Agency hereby requires CN to comply with the agreement described above and not to take any action that would restrict CP from exercising its rights until the Agency delivers its final decision in this matter.

This does not relieve the parties in this case of the obligations placed on them by the Railway Safety Act.