CN Railway agrees to a remedy in its successful bid to operate BC Rail Ltd.
On November 25, 2003, the British Columbia Government granted Canadian National Railway Company (“CN”) the right to acquire all of the shares of BC Railway Ltd. (“BC Rail”), partnership units in the BC Rail partnership and a long-term licence to operate its railbed. In its review, the Competition Bureau concluded that the proposed transaction raised serious competition issues for rail interline transportation of commodities (e.g., lumber) and rail transportation of grain from the Peace River area.
In the consent agreement, CN agreed to open gateway rates by both publishing and maintaining tariffs inclusive of connection charges for each of BC Rail’s five distinct geographic zones and four different load weight categories. It also agreed to adjust rates annually based on an industry index; however, published rates could not be adjusted below initial levels.
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