what is the bottleneck in rail transport

[sawfly1]

I can make guesses what the problem is but does anyone have insight?

bill c49 still sounds like more doing nothing.

why don't we look at what is really possible to do.

a lot of things like joint running rights are not going to happen .

the cn cp monopoly is here to stay .
at least as long as NAFTA is in place. you can not touch them .
so you can be sure NAFTA will be around a long time .

the grain co.s are not our friends in this .
the bottlenecks or just lack of effort from the railways .
have made grain .co.s business super profitable.

as evidenced by everyone and their dog building terminals these days .

with the grain. co.s and the railways having the govt.s ear
the mess will continue .
grian co.s will not want a fix , because then they would have to compete
with the other players. and cut margins

the rail roads do not want a fix , because the worse service they give .
the more raises they get. the way it has always been .

when a full compensatory rate plus profit , plus Return on investment is not enough .
what the hell is .
they have a real incentive not to preform .

there has to be some agency to make sure all products have access to transportation
is a reasonable time.

a national policy
why is there not one ?
how basic and simple is that.
some one should be in charge .
but we have 50 years of nothing.
absolutely nothing



oil potash grain lumber. how can their real value be determined , if they can not get to their destination in a reasonable time

the first and simplest is oil in pipelines.
that is the easy one.

if the rail lines to the coast are the problem.

then how about for every $ over what they spend now , on system improvements .
govt. or shippers would match. or help them out .
it would have to be audited

grain shippers would not pay to improve a total coal line . etc. etc.
and vice versa

kinda make the railroads our friends , not the middle man grain .cos .
market forces will bring grain. co.s in line .when anybody has access to shipping .
they might have to work instead of steal for a change .


we are screwed anyway, so if we have to pay more, for improvements . at least the $ are not buying a US railroad
for the shareholders.

same with locomotives, etc. if the railroads would have and maintain enough here to do the job .
and we would help them out .
if not , then give the money back

[Guest]

first thing needs to happen is build some pipelines . get ALL, and I mean, ALL of the oil off the rails

[LWeber]

first thing needs to happen is build some pipelines . get ALL, and I mean, ALL of the oil off the rails

Canadian producers continue to suffer from lack of pipeline capacity. Cenovus Energy (NYSE: CVE) said last week that it lowered oil production at two of its facilities in February because it has struggled to ship its oil. Canada’s pipeline system is virtually tapped out, and rail shipments have stepped up to take on some of the burden of moving some of the oil. But a lack of locomotives has also created a bottleneck on the rail system. Canadian oil production exceeded pipeline capacity by 87,000 bpd in December, a gap that is expected to swell to 338,000 bpd by the end of this year as new projects reach completion, according to Genscape Inc.

[Oliver88]

Get the oil pipelines built or else get used to railway issues.

Even though all the environmentalists are opposing pipelines, fossil fuel demand is increasing including Hippyland B.C.

[seldomseen]

A new rail line to Churchill and a new terminal and a pipe line for oil. Don't let CN or CP on that line.

Nothing but jobs and money for a depressed part of the country and if BC and Quebec don't want the money Manitoba should grab it.

[macdon02]

Seems to predominately be a Jan Feb march issue. Market accordingly. Pay off debt and preserve cash. I don't see it changing as long as cn and cp are in business. Setup a biodiesel plant and bootleg fuel, get grandpa's still out and sell booze and ethanol. Or maybe it's time to feed the shit .... doesn't leave time for vacations and likely doesn't pay much but that seems to be our options.....

[Wheatking]

So is manpower, locomotives the only real bottlenecks in the system. If we doubled the engine power and manpower could we effectively double the shipments, or is he physical rail bed at max capacity. Does more rail bed need to be twinned. Is it the mountain passses limiting capacity. How can we realistically increase railway efficiency and capacity. Despite how much I would like to see it happen, open running rights are never going to happen

[sawfly1]

if there ever was a place for govt.
well this is it .
100 years ago . US govt.s realized the problem with monopolies.
and did things about it.

here successive liberal and conservative govts. do nothing because no matter which is in power they
are connected to these monopoly's . or the Richardsons ETC> in some way

not so much connected to the farmer . we are the wrong league .

even Harper , who was supposed to the farmers friend .
so much for that .

yes the hippies and greens can be a pain .

but do not be distracted from who is really running the show.

after 50 years of sub standard export performance .

the first thing any govt. would do . would be look into it and fix the problem.

but no , there is too much money to be made by the friends of the people in power .
the way it is .

that is the only possible explanation , for doing nothing .

[Klause]

Came back from Edmonton today on #16.


Saw every elevator full of rail cars. Trains at every siding stopped.


The entire 700km one train was moving out of the 15 or so on the tracks.


Wtf is going on here?

[bgmb]

I think weather in jan feb march, and mountains are the biggest bottlenecks.

[grassfarmer]

I think weather in jan feb march, and mountains are the biggest bottlenecks.

Settlers have been here long enough you'd have thought we'd have figured out that we get winter in winter and have a mountain range to our west.

[bgmb]

I dont disagree, we can increase capacity but i think winter and mountains will always be the pinch points.

[ajl]

This is a problem with no solution. Can't beat poor government, poor geography, and poor weather. The solution that will be forced on us is to reduce production in Canuckistan. Time to unload this overpriced land to investors before they realize it. (Some have done that) Talked to a farmer from the Ft Vermillion/LaCrete area of northern AB and he said a lot of land in his area has been converted to organic. Global cooling will also help reduce production as some northern areas will no longer have enough season to produce some crops. As farmers bank accounts empty, inputs get cut and more marginal land gets taken out of production. Chem fallowing is another option in dryer areas. One thing that is not explained that if there were more tons at the west coast, how much price reduction would it take to find a buyer for the extra tons as no one with $USD on hand does without wheat in today's market if they want it.

[SASKFARMER3]

Funny last time this shit show happened they pulled grain out of Alberta to hide the facts and make it seem like they were actually moving grain. East of that line got nothing.

This winter we have been lucky and getting cars lots of cars but have a big terminal with lots car space and fast turn around. It is working.

But the games and rail is a serious issue.

Time to think out of the box and do something else. Im for North and out or something totally radical.

BC and Quebec and Ontario are problem and only way to deal with problem is cut them off.

[bucket]

I have been watching Rocky Mountain Railway ....maybe the railway executives should as well ....

CP's public service announcement thru that show indicates they stay ahead of problems....and the brainwashed employees say how important the railway is to the economy of Canada. ...

One even said Canada wouldn't be where it is without the railway. ...

Too bad the railway didn't run Noth south instead of east west. ....but you can't fix brainwashed stupidity.


There is a solution ....install a grain terminal inland BC so when winter hits they draw from there to keep grain moving....

Stats prove they move very little in winter so figure that tonnage out and build accordingly .....grain wouldn't have to stop moving....they just choose not to..

Where are the graincos in all of this since we are talking about their grain ....oh yeah the farmers are doing their bidding ....again. ..

They are laughing all the way to the bank.

This started last fall.... I don't know why anyone is surprised....the graincos kept the system backed up to keep from bidding for grain. ...