Transport committee  The intention is to give the agency adjudication powers so that freight rail companies and transit authorities can negotiate agreements that meet the needs of those responsible for passenger service. For urban transit authorities, the process will include giving up branch lines,

Transport committee  The process allows the minister, if he determines there are public interest considerations, to ask a person or a group of persons--a committee, for example--to investigate what those public issues may be. That opportunity would allow the public to come forward and explain what th

Transport committee  I will respond on behalf of the surface mode, and I'll let my colleague respond on behalf of the air mode. The issue on which we have received by far the most concerns in letters has been related to railway noise. It dates back to 2000, when the Federal Court of Appeal overruled

Transport committee  In 1996 when it was passed, the Canada Transportation Act put in a process to facilitate the abandonment of rail lines. Since then we've had the creation of a large number of short-line railways across the country. I think there's a total of 60 across Canada right now. CN and C

Transport committee  Once they are no longer part of the railway they are under the jurisdiction of municipalities. They are a piece of property like any municipal piece of property.

Transport committee  Railway companies are required to maintain their lists. Bill C-11 provides that when a company wants to make changes to a list, either by adding or removing elements, it has to notify the agency, Transport Canada, as well as communities through which the railway runs. This is bec

Transport committee  A company cannot abandon a siding before it puts it on a list. Moreover, companies will only place those sidings they wish to abandon on the list.

Transport committee  Indeed, that is not currently provided for. However, in Bill C-11, the agency is given new powers to arbitrate with commuter rail companies and railway companies to negotiate agreements with respect to the responsibility to determine when they will run passenger service or need t

Transport committee  Yes, but these are the terms and conditions to run a passenger service.

Transport committee  Not entirely. The bill allows consultations with individuals affected by the situation, including communities as well as railways, in order to determine standards or guidelines upon which the agency can base its decision. Sometimes the noise impact is different depending on wheth

Transport committee  I am going to answer you in English. Currently the process applies to the railway discontinuing operations or abandoning the railway line. Once the railway discontinues operations—it will no longer offer a freight service—it has to offer the line up for sale to another private e

Transport committee  It's already in the law that when it's offered to government it's at net salvage value. Net salvage value takes into account the value of the property, but also the environmental remediation or cleanup that has to be done on the property. It is quite a fair value that the governm

Transport committee  The environmental issues that evolve as a result of accidents are dealt with as part of the legislation that deals with railway safety, the Railway Safety Act. They also may be implicated by the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act. The cleanups and things like that are addresse

Transport committee  Currently, the seven members that the agency has are part-time members and they're spread throughout the country. It is sometimes difficult when the agency is doing a hearing, for example, or working on decisions for which it has to have a certain number of members available, to

Transport committee  Definitely.