One railway company exceeded its Maximum Revenue Entitlement for grain movement in the last crop year while the other major railway company was below its MRE.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City will be making an overage payment to the Western Grains Research Foundation.
The Maximum Revenue Entitlement or MRE is the maximum amount each railway can earn from bulk grain movement. The MRE is adjusted each year for grain volume as well as inflation.
CN’s grain revenue for the last crop year was $1.45 billion and that was $5.9 million or 0.4 per cent below its Maximum Revenue Entitlement.
CPKC, on the other hand, had grain revenue of $1.066 billion which was nearly $2.7 million or 0.2 per cent above its Maximum Revenue Entitlement.
The Canadian Transportation Agency will require CPKC to pay that $2.7 million overage plus a 5 per cent penalty to the Western Grains Research Foundation.
The foundation is governed by farm group leaders with the money dedicated to crops research.
In the 2024-25 crop year, just over 49 million tonnes of grain were moved, a 12 per cent increase in volume as compared to the previous year.
