Regulations on Operational Terms for Rail Level of Services Arbitration

Marginal note:Paragraph 169.31(1)(a) of the Act

• 2 (1) For the purposes of paragraph 169.31(1)(a) of the Act, a term constitutes an operational term when it sets out an obligation of the railway company towards the shipper respecting the performance of an action related to the receiving, loading, carrying, unloading and delivering of traffic.

• Marginal note:Examples

  (2) A term that deals with any of the following matters is an operational term referred to in subsection (1):

  • (a) the furnishing of cars to the shipper, including

    • (i) the quantity of cars to be furnished,

    • (ii) the schedule for furnishing them,

    • (iii) the place where they are to be furnished,

    • (iv) their condition,

    • (v) their type and specifications, and

    • (vi) the procedures to be followed by the railway company for the processing of the shipper’s order for those cars and for their delivery by the railway company;

  • (b) the handling of cars that are furnished by the shipper to the railway company, including the cycle time for handling them;

  • (c) the furnishing of locomotives or other motive power sources, of other equipment or of train crews;

  • (d) the pick-up of cars by the railway company, including

    • (i) the schedule for picking them up, and

    • (ii) the place where they are to be picked up;

  • (e) the number and scheduling of switches;

  • (f) the transit time for delivery of the shipped traffic ;

  • (g) the route to be used for that delivery;

  • (h) a performance standard — expressed as a quantity, frequency, percentage or other metric — for measuring the railway company’s compliance with an operational term that deals with a matter referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (g) or any other operational term referred to in subsection (1), including any term that establishes the railway company’s responsibility for collecting and sharing data and for reporting in respect of the performance standard;

  • (i) the circumstances that would make it impossible for the railway company to comply with an operational term that deals with a matter referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (g) or any other operational term referred to in subsection (1), including

    • (i) a superior force, including a flood, fire or other natural disaster,

    • (ii) a war or insurrection,

    • (iii) a riot, strike or lock-out,

    • (iv) a derailment,

    • (v) a blockage of rail lines due to an accident, demonstration, natural cause or other cause,

    • (vi) any condition related to the loading of cars,

    • (vii) a failure of the shipper to comply with conditions that are associated with the performance by the railway company of service obligations under section 113 of the Act,

    • (viii) the inability of the railway company to access a terminal or a delay in accessing it,

    • (ix) the inability of the railway company to transfer the shipped traffic to another railway company or a delay in transferring it, and

    • (x) a breakdown in a component of the railway.