Studies

CPCS was requested by the Railway Association of Canada (RAC) to conduct an independent examination comparing railway freight rates internationally and to prepare a report on this work. The intention of the study is to compare average railway freight rates at the national level, measured for purposes of international comparison as railway annual freight revenues per revenue ton-mile (RTM) for 2021 in US cents.

The objective of the Rail Pathways Initiative was to create a roadmap to rail
decarbonization based on emerging low-carbon technologies. This entailed
developing a framework for assessing GHG reduction opportunities in Canada’s rail sector and creating a strategy to apply it to inform decision making on decarbonization in the years and decades ahead.

The RAC and its members are collaborating with Transport Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Natural Resources Canada, the Delphi Group, and Pollution Probe to identify opportunities for further decarbonization in Canada’s rail sector. This Phase 1 report of the Rail Pathways Initiative establishes a common understanding of existing policies, programs, and initiatives from governments and industry that impact rail emissions. This report will contribute to the next phase of the initiative which is to develop and implement a roadmap for decarbonization in parallel to federal milestones of 2030 and 2050. This report does not speak to the path forward but provides an inventory of emissions reductions initiatives that exist today.

This report by the Conference Board of Canada, an independent, evidence-based & non-profit research organization, assesses the rail industry’s contribution to the Canadian economy using a “footprint” analysis. This measures the direct, indirect, and induced impacts of the rail industry’s business operations and investments. This analysis does not assess the impact of scenarios in which railways are temporarily shut down—events that have their own, and significant, impacts on the Canadian economy by restricting the flow of goods across the country.

This report by global management consultancy Oliver Wyman found that pipelines and Canada’s Class I Railways have equivalent safety records in the movement of crude oil. From 2014-18, Canadian pipelines and railways combined to move 216,987 billion gallon-miles of crude oil, 99.999% of which was transported without spillage. The report concludes that both takeaway modes – pipelines and rail – are required for Canada’s energy industry to thrive.