Transport Canada wants freight rail data rules 

Transport Canada is proposing a regulation that would make changes to collection of freight rail traffic and service data permanent.

The Canadian agency says the reporting requirements would provide rail users and the public with more relevant and precise information relating to rail service and performance. 

The proposed permanent regulation seeks to adjust waybill reporting requirements to ensure that the data meets its primary purpose of supporting long-haul interswitching (LHI), Transport Canada said. But the regulation also removes this requirement from carriers not likely to be subject to LHI orders. 

LHI is a type of interswitching procedure enabling shippers outside the normal distance requirements for regulated interswitching to access another railway even though that other railway doesn’t directly serve the shipper. Interswitching is like reciprocal switching in the U.S. and it allows for railcars can be interswitched if the origin or destination of the traffic is within a 30-kilometer radius of an interchange. Grain shippers have been considered as the target audience for LHI although both regular interswitching and LHI are available for all shippers.