Federal railway companies, such as CN and CP, are required by law to furnish “adequate and suitable facilities and service”. Railways cannot arbitrarily refuse to provide service, nor do they have to comply with every request for service. What is “adequate and suitable” depends on what is reasonable in all the circumstances. The responsibility for making this determination rests with the Canadian Transportation Agency (the “Agency”).

The railway’s level of service obligations include the obligation to:

• receive, carry and deliver traffic without delay;
• provide adequate cars and facilities for loading and unloading goods at all stopping points;
• facilitate the transfer of traffic to and from another railway;
• connect private sidings with their rail lines, place cars on those siding and move traffic to and from those sidings;
• provide any other service that railway companies usually offer as part of their transportation services.

One of the factors which the Agency considers in dealing with a complaint is whether the railway company is discriminating between different shippers. Such discrimination is a good indicator that the railway company is providing inadequate service to the complainant. It may not be necessary to demonstrate discrimination, however, in cases where there has been chronic neglect and shortfall of equipment.