Congestion problems peaked through the fall.Ottawa—The Canadian Transportation Agency is asking the railways, primarily CN, for more information on congestion and service problems in the Vancouver area last fall that prompted complaints by shipper groups.The CTA asked CN seven questions and CP two and invited shippers who participated in the first phase of its inquiry into the complaints to respond to the questions as well. Responses are due by March 26.The CTA said it would make a final decision on the service complaint laid by the Freight Management Association (FMC) later this year. It will say whether the railways fulfilled their service obligations and that could include an order to the railways to remedy any identified service shortfalls.FMA is talking with its legal advisor on rail matters before making a recommendation to members on whether the Association should make any comments on the questions, said President Bob Ballantyne.The CTA said Cargill received 83 percent of their scheduled deliveries from October 2018 to January 2019 while Richardson International received 80 percent of their scheduled deliveries during October to December last year.It cited other shippers who received less than requested service last fall among other problems.“The evidence further suggests that these shortfalls and delays in the transportation of traffic were related in part to congestion at CN's Thornton Yard in October and November 2018,” CTA said. “The number of cars dwelling in Thornton Yard that were destined to the North Shore increased by 186 percent between October 1, 2018 and its peak on December 13, 2018. During the same period, there were changes in car volumes arriving into Thornton Yard, including a 16 percent increase in intermodal platform cars, an 18 percent increase in cars destined to be interchanged with BNSF Railway, an 11 percent increase in grain cars destined to the North Shore terminals and a 16 percent increase in wood pulp cars destined to the North Shore.”Both CN and CP imposed embargoes on three groups of cargoes last fall including paper and wood pulp cars. CN said it needed to proactively manage shipments to various Vancouver and surrounding area because shippers “do not manage shipments to ensure receiving terminal capacity in the manner that shippers of other commodities do.”Canola and rape seed shipments were also subject to restrictions at times because the Vancouver terminals were congested.Ballantyne said, “There has been chronic rail congestion in the Vancouver area for some time and concerns that the problems of last winter will be repeated again this year. This is impacting primarily carload traffic and not so much unit train or intermodal traffic.“I have not heard any recent grumblings regarding service problems in the Vancouver area but this issue has been simmering on the backburner for several years,” he said. “A number of reviews were initiated during the 1970s and 1980s respecting rail service in the Vancouver area, resulting in proposals for a ring railway amongst other remedies, but nothing significant ever came of it other than agreements respecting competitive rail service/running rights into the new Roberts Bank coal terminal and agreements respecting CN service into North Vancouver on behalf of CP.”In its request for the CTA hearing, the FMA said its members shipping through the Port of Vancouver “like many importers and exporters, are being impacted by the chronic rail congestion problems in the greater Vancouver area.”Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.