Bill C-49: Is The Line Haul Interswitching Remedy Really New?

As we recently reported, the Government of Canada has introduced the "Transportation Modernization Act" (Bill C-49) into the House, which would amend the Canada Transportation Act (the "CTA").  Among other things, Bill C-49 proposes a new rail shipper remedy to be known as "long-haul interswitching" ("LHI"). 

The LHI remedy would allow a shipper that has access to only one class 1 rail carrier (the local carrier) at a point of origin or destination to apply to the Canadian Transportation Agency for a "long haul interswitching order".  The order would require the local carrier to transport the shipper's traffic from that point to the nearest interchange at a rate determined by the Agency, for furtherance beyond by a connecting federal railway company.  We have compared the LHI remedy to the existing competitive line rate ("CLR") remedy, which Bill C-49 seeks to repeal.