The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Jan. 4, edition that Trans Mountain plans to begin line fill in March or May, the company said in a filing on Wednesday. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that TMX is awaiting a regulatory decision on its request for a construction change. Line fill is a final step before the expanded Alberta-to-British Columbia pipeline begins service. The project will nearly triple the pipeline's shipments to 890,000 barrels a day. Trans Mountain said the new schedules assume it faces no delays. TMX continues to target the end of the first quarter to begin shipping crude and is developing contingency plans to address any challenges to that schedule, a spokesman said. Trans Mountain had asked the Canada Energy Regulator to allow it to install smaller-diameter pipe in a 2.3 kilometre section of the oil pipeline's route after encountering challenging drilling conditions in a mountainous area between Hope and Chilliwack, B.C. The CER denied the request on Dec. 5. Trans Mountain then asked the regulator to reverse that decision on Dec. 14, warning of a possibly "catastrophic" two-year delay and billions of dollars in losses. The CER has not yet made a decision.