Ottawa Ontario - Executives from Canada's two major railways spent Monday afternoon in Ottawa detailing the measures they are taking to alleviate a grain backlog in the prairies that has left farmers frustrated and angry.
 
Canadian National Railway Co.'s (CN) chief operating officer Michael Cory and Canadian Pacific Railway's (CP) vice-president of strategic planning and transportation services James Clements addressed the backlog before the federal government's Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.
 
Many grain farmers say shipments are months behind schedule, following a season of higher-than-expected production in Western Canada.
 
Grain producers and shippers have recently called on the federal government to issue an order-in-council that could force railways to move minimum volumes of grain.
 
When asked on Monday whether the railways would be able to ensure such a backlog does not happen again, as it previously did in 2013-2014, Cory said the company has made significant strides since "bottoming out" in February.
 
"From retired employees coming back, to delaying vacation, to the hiring we're doing, and the leasing of locomotives, everything we're doing right now is to clear the backlog," Cory told the committee.
 
"I can assure you we will clear the backlog. Our focus is on that, and we won't stop until it is done."
 
Both railroads have pointed to largely unexpected increased demand and extreme weather conditions as contributing factors to the major delays.
 
"Not moving demand isn't in the interest of our shareholders," Clements said.
 
"We're going to go through a process to ensure we can understand that demand, and rise to the challenge and move it for our customers and the economy of Canada."
 
However, Ian Boxall, the vice-resident of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, said the blame rests largely on deep operational cuts that reduced both manpower and locomotives.
 
"The fact that we're talking about this again is quite ridiculous," he said.
 
"We get winter every year in Canada, the railroad should know that after operating for 100-plus years. Using winter as an excuse to me is a scapegoat for them. They need a better plan in place to move our products in the winter."
 
The hearing came as CN and CP, along with other Class I railroads, face heightened scrutiny from a U.S. regulator.
 
The U.S. Surface Transportation Board has issued letters to the CEOs of major North American railways demanding a service outlook for the remainder of 2018 after it received complaints about poor service from two major rail shipper trade associations.
 
"Although there are exceptions, most Class I railroads' data indicate that service is deteriorating," the letter, signed by STB acting chairman Ann Begeman and vice chairman Deb Miller, said.
 
"For several major railroads, system average train speed has declined noticeably, while system average terminal dwell has climbed. For these same railroads, other key metrics, such as the average number of cars in revenue service that have not moved in 48 hours or more, are trending in an unfavourable direction."
 
The letter was also addressed to the CEOs of CSX Corp., Northfolk Southern Corp., Union Pacific Corp, BNSF Railway Co. and Kansas City Southern.
 
Going forward, both CN and CP emphasized that the expedited passing of Bill C-49, the Transport Modernization Act, would be a step in the right direction.
 
"I'll say it one more time, we apologize seriously for not meeting the expectations of all the supply chains we're in," Cory said.
 
"We take it extremely serious, this is about recovery and then taking all necessary steps for it not to happen again.
 
Alicja Siekierska.