Cross Border Rail Transportation: A Canadian Perspective Canada-United States Cross-Border Rail Peer Exchange May 25, 2011 Burlington, Vermont
2 Purpose To discuss: National Context Current State of Cross Border Rail Canada s Gateway and Trade Corridors
3 National Context: Passenger Rail VIA Operates a national service, serving 4.2 million passengers a year; $260 to $300 million in revenue and Government subsidy of $200 to $250 million per year. Since 2007, Government invested $903 million for equipment and infrastructure projects. However, challenges of economic viability in areas with low population density. High-Speed Rail Jointly with Ontario and Quebec, federal Government completing study on the technical and economic feasibility of high-speed rail service in the Quebec City to Windsor Corridor. Will help determine whether governments would still need to fund the majority of capital and operating expenses. Federal government will need to carefully consider conclusions of study and the implications of implementing high-speed rail.
4 National Context: Freight Rail Freight railways in Canada Two transcontinental services: Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Railways (CP) Operations extend into the United States Carry in excess of 300 million tonnes of freight per year Over 40 short line and regional freight railways: Provide feeder service to CN and CP Rail Freight Service Review Undertaken to address significant concerns raised by shippers about rail service. Purpose is to identify ways to improve efficiency, effectiveness and reliability of rail-based supply chain. Two phase process: analytical studies; independent Panel consulted widely and issued recommendations.
5 The Rail Freight Service Review Panel recommendations: commercial approach with four key elements Service Changes railways to provide minimum 10-day notification Service Agreements railways to negotiate service agreements with shippers Dispute Resolution facilitate commercial dispute resolution (CDR). Performance Reporting railways to enhance reporting: bi-laterally with shippers on specific metrics; publicly on sector level metrics appoint a second facilitator to negotiate specific metrics. Government Announcement: Accept Panel s commercial approach Implement four key elements; service changes, service agreements, CDR, performance reporting. Facilitation Process to implement commercial solutions; facilitator to work with stakeholders to negotiate template service agreements and CDR. Propose legislation giving shippers a right to service agreements with the railways. Take a broad supply chain perspective initiate a Commodity Supply Chain Table and grain supply chain study.
6 Current state of Cross Border Rail: Passenger Car 46.5M Air 9.6 M Bus 1.6M Marine 1.2M Pedestrians 0.5M Rail 0.2M Currently passenger rail border crossing are limited. There are 3 passenger services crossing the boarder (Amtrak). The majority of border crossings are through cars or through air services.
7 Current state of Cross Border Rail: Freight Road $270B Rail $69B Other $66B Air $29B Marine $22B In 2009, there was over $450B CAD of cross-border trade between Canada and the United States. Rail s modal share was the second largest, handling $69B CAD worth of goods.
Strategic Gateways and Trade Corridors North America's closest major ports to Asia Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative (APGCI) Atlantic Gateway and Trade Corridor Continental Gateway and Trade Corridor North America's closest ports to Europe, Latin America and ships transiting the Suez Canal $33 Billion Building Canada Plan: $1 billion for the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative and a $2.1 billion Gateways and Border Crossings Fund 8
9 Targeted Funding for Strategic Trade Infrastructure Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative: Projects include bridges, road improvements, road/rail grade separations, access roads to intermodal facilities, and shortsea shipping berths Atlantic Gateway and Trade Corridor: Expanding post-panamax capacity at Port of Halifax Extending runways at key cargo airports in region (Halifax and Moncton) Improvements along key corridor highways throughout the region Continental Gateway and Trade Corridor: New Detroit River International Crossing; the largest Gateways initiative
10 Summary Cross border rail plays an important role in Canada-U.S. trade. Rail is a key component of Canada s Gateways strategy, which links global supply chains with the North American economy. Gateways: focus on systems and supply chains, rather than modal performance. Supply chain perspective; stakeholders working together