Ritchie urges solidarity, offers praise for short line operators

QUEBEC (June 11, 2002) — After telling short line railroad operators “We need you,” the head of Canadian Pacific Railway urged them to join with larger railways in lobbying for changes to property and fuel taxes and revised policies which he said favour the trucking industry and other competitors.

In a speech at the CP Rail’s annual short line and regional railway conference, Robert Ritchie said that since the CPR’s spin-off from the former CP Ltd. last fall, the company’s market capitalization has grown by more than 40 per cent. He said traffic generated by short line and regional railways is responsible for a large measure of that success.

Today the CPR forms the backbone of a network of more than 100 regional and short line railroads. Regional and short line-related freight revenues account for about 18 per cent of CP Rail’s total freight revenues, and that portion is growing, said Ritchie. “Last year in a relatively flat market these revenues grew by 4 per cent while our total freight revenues grew by 1 per cent.”

In the last 10 years the CPR has transferred to regional and short line control about twice as much track as it has discontinued, he said.

The conference, which began Sunday and ends tomorrow, was the seventh held by the railroad. About 50 short line and regional railways participated along with the Railway Association of Canada and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association.