UK rail regulator fines EWS £4.1 million for anti-competitive practices
AFX: 17th November 2006
LONDON - The UK rail regulator said it has decided to fine English Welsh and Scottish Railway Ltd (EWS) £4.1 million sterling for anti-competitive practices.
The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) said the rail freight operator had accepted its findings that its contracts effectively excluded competitors for coal haulage by rail from the market and it pursued discriminatory and predatory pricing practices.
The ORR added it had taken EWS's cooperation into account when setting the fine.
The investigations had started following complaints from Enron Coal Services Ltd in 2001 and Freightliner Heavy Haul in 2002.
EWS is part-owned by Canadian National Railways Co.