(Decisions, decisions.... with two new threads, I’m in a quandry where to post this...probably belongs here as I’m more concerned with the “policy” and regulation than with the technology per se.....but if I’m wrong someone can redirect...
Over the holidays a guy, whose employer is a rail customer, was telling me that they were getting a sell from a certain railway to relinquish their service-to-the-siding in favour of a transload at a main yard in Toronto.
The obvious motive is allowing the railway to effectively get out of local service altogether, as it’s costly and probably represents a drag on ROI. Plus, local service ties up track and time, getting in the way of through freight.
The railway was of course suggesting the transload would be cheaper - which begs the question of who bears the cost of putting bulk trucks on congested GTA highways ?
The “local” routing I was told about was fairly long....over 90 kms. That’s a lot of trucking.
Without knowing any fine details, at face value this is an example of where the railways in Canada may be allowed to over-earn. Investment income is nice, but the normal expectation of a utility is seldom a first-rate ROI. When one looks at the railways’ taking profit while downgrading service, and passing impacts to the public...maybe the railways are not working hard enough for their money.
I hold railway stock, and I like the dividends....but.....maybe the duty to serve should have more weight, in favour of customers who may represent low but positive ROI.
- Paul