Regina - Greater opportunities for railways to perform well in moving grain, and the ability to raise capital for improvements to the system are major positive effects of the new Western Grain Transportation Act, the top executive of CP Rail said here 23 Nov 1983.

R.S. Allison, executive vice-president, told the annual meeting of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool that CP Rail wants to handle all the grain that pool members can grow, "and we intend to do it well."

The 70,000-member Saskatchewan Wheat Pool is CP Rail's largest grain customer and grain is the railway's highest-volume commodity, Mr. Allison said.

With passage of the grain transportation legislation railways can now "seek out grain traffic and compete for it."

He added that a "solid improvement" in available space for grain in Prairie elevators on CP Rail lines has been reflected in the steady pace of grain exports through Thunder Bay and Vancouver in recent months.

HUGE CHALLENGE

The railway will be calling for tenders from construction and tunnelling firms in January, 1984, for the Rogers Pass tunnel and double-tracking project which Mr. Allison termed "the biggest construction project since the original railway was built."

"Work at Rogers Pass will include 10 miles of tunnelling, 13 new bridges, and a total of 21 miles of new track. Completion is scheduled for late 1988.

The Rogers Pass project is "a huge challenge and a massive commitment of manpower and money," said Mr. Allison. "When it is done, we will have removed the largest limitation on our future ability to move grain and other commodities to the West Coast."

CP Rail capital spending of $315 million in 1983 allowed a number of new projects to begin this year, he said. Spending for the year has been fully committed and much of the 1983 work has been completed.

"A lot of these building blocks for a better rail system could not have been in place if the railway had to continue carrying the weight of grain losses," he said.

In meeting the need for additional capital spending, Mr. Allison said that an improved return on investment resulting from new grain revenues will allow the railway to raise new capital over and above what it can generate internally.

"This external raising of funds will be substantial. There is no way we could carry out the level of spending we plan without raising additional capital from outside the railway. And there is no way we could have access to that funding without the effect improved revenues have on the railway's return on investment," he said.

With grain transportation becoming a business instead of a financial burden for the railways, he said shippers can look forward to more innovative approaches by CP Rail to scheduling and service.

Mr. Allison said the railways' performance in moving grain and the level of their investment are related.

"The proof of adequacy of railway investment for grain transportation will be in our performance in delivering grain.

"The bottom line is that good delivery and good investment performance are as much in CP Rail's interests as in grain shippers' interests," he said.

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