Freight Rail Data Reporting Rules

Summary#

The Regulations Amending the Transportation Information Regulations (Freight Rail Data) require large freight railways to deliver more detailed data about their Canadian movements to the federal government. The amendment was published in the Canada Gazette on January 4, 2023 and took effect 90 days later (on or about April 4, 2023).

What it does#

• Creates a new Part (Part XIII) in the Transportation Information Regulations that sets reporting rules for freight moved by rail in Canada.
• Requires weekly service and performance reports from the largest carriers. Those reports must be delivered no later than 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the Wednesday after the reporting week.
• Requires monthly waybill (car-level) reports from the biggest Canadian carriers. Monthly traffic summaries are required from some smaller class 1 carriers, due by the last day of the month following the reporting month.
• Specifies the kinds of data to be submitted, including origin/destination codes, commodity codes, car and container counts, tonnage, distance, and — for waybills — shipper, revenue and train identifiers. It also sets detailed methods for how indicators (dwell time, cars not moving, velocity, etc.) must be calculated.
• Limits or tailors reporting for carriers with smaller Canadian operations. For example, BNSF Railway Company will report a reduced set of indicators; some class 1 carriers with very small Canadian footprints are not required to report the full suite of weekly service indicators.
• Keeps certain waybill information confidential for administrative uses such as setting Long‑Haul Interswitching (LHI) rates.
• Establishes penalties for false or missing reports, including fines and administrative monetary penalties of up to $25,000.

Who's affected#

• Major freight railways operating in Canada, most directly:
  • Canadian National Railway Company (CN)
  • Canadian Pacific Railway Company (CP)
  • BNSF Railway Company (BNSF)
  • CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSX)
• Smaller class 1 rail carriers that earn revenue in Canada may be required to send a smaller, monthly traffic summary instead of full waybill data.
• Supply‑chain users such as shippers, terminal operators, port authorities, and freight data users. They will gain access to more and better‑defined public performance data.
• Transport Canada and the Canadian Transportation Agency, which will use the data for monitoring, analysis, and for setting LHI rates.

If it is unclear whether a particular railway meets the reporting thresholds, that detail depends on the carrier’s Canadian revenue and is defined in the Regulations.

Why it matters#

• More transparency: Weekly public indicators (with commodity and regional breakdowns) give shippers and ports clearer, more comparable information about rail performance across Canada.
• Better policy and rate setting: Detailed, confidential waybill data helps the government and the Canadian Transportation Agency set and administer the Long‑Haul Interswitching (LHI) remedy and other policy work.
• Practical uses: Shippers and terminals can use the new metrics (dwell times, cars online, velocity, crew availability, etc.) to plan shipments, spot bottlenecks, and raise service concerns with carriers sooner.
• Costs and burden: Railways will face implementation and ongoing reporting costs. Transport Canada estimated total implementation costs of $518,886 (present value over a 10‑year period) and net monetized costs of $473,182 after some savings. The rules are expected to reduce some reporting burdens for carriers with smaller Canadian operations.
• Timing and compliance: The rules came into force 90 days after publication and set tight reporting timelines (weekly data due the Wednesday after the reporting week). This was intended to give earlier and more timely public information than the previous transitional rules.