On December 15, 2022, the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Transport, made Regulations Amending the Transportation Information Regulations (Freight Rail Data).

The Transportation Information Regulations were amended by adding sections 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, and Schedule XII. Section 51 introduces definitions to be used in Part XIII (Class 1 Rail Carriers) the definitions include: class 1 rail carrier, class II rail carrier, Freight Station Accounting Code (FSAC), and Standard Point Location Code (SPLC). Sections 52-53 deals with required electronic Reports to be submitted to the Minister with respect to any traffic that is moved by railway car. These reports include information on: traffic information and waybill information. Section 54 sets out that the service and performance information with respect to rail traffic moving on its network during the reporting week needs to be electronically reported to the Minister. Finally, section 55 requires that the information required section 54 must be reported according to the methodologies and requirements set out in Schedule XII. Schedule XII is entitled Rail Service and Performance Indicator Methodologies and Requirements  

Note the Transportation Modernization Act (TMA) introduced temporary requirements for class 1 rail carriers to report service and performance information (which is reported publicly) and waybill data (which is confidential). The expansion of the service and performance indicators represents a significant improvement, which will make the data more relevant, understandable, and useful to data users, while reducing the reporting burden for smaller carriers such as CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSX) and BNSF Railway Company (BNSF).

*Source: Canada (SOR/2022-278) December 15, 2022.