Here's an interesting article from www.ble.org CPR's Vancouver-Chicago container volumes double CALGARY -- Canadian Pacific Railway will double its transPacific container volumes into the Midwest U.S. market through the Port of Vancouver with new contracts to serve three shipping lines, continuing the strong growth that has made intermodal business CPR's number one revenue-generator. Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), NYK Lines and Lykes Lines will this month make Vancouver their gateway to U.S. destinations with CPR as the land carrier to Chicago. CPR has the quickest, most efficient route between the Port of Vancouver and Chicago, and is the leading carrier serving the container shipping lines at Vancouver. The new contracts further solidify the Port of Vancouver's position as the fastest-growing West Coast port for containerized traffic. They were announced today by Robert Ritchie, CPR President and CEO, in a speech to the World Ports Conference in Montreal. "We have built up our infrastructure to offer a stand-out level of service into the U.S. heartland off the West Coast. CPR's competitiveness continues to be recognized and rewarded with growth in the market," Mr. Ritchie said. CPR provides dedicated double-stack container train service into Chicago, with fourth-day arrival. OOCL and NYK will combine their loads to make a weekly call at Deltaport, the Port of Vancouver's ultramodern container terminal, which is served directly by CPR. Lykes Lines will also call weekly at the Port of Vancouver. All the shipping lines will take on container traffic from CPR that is destined for Asian markets. With the contract, Lykes Lines launches a new service between Asia and North America and makes its first foray into Vancouver. OOCL and NYK already call at the Port of Vancouver but container shipments had been for Eastern Canada only. The contract with CPR will for the first time put their U.S.-bound container shipments through Vancouver. "About 40 per cent of CPR's business moves in and out of a seaport and this sector of the business continues to grow because of our service offering," Mr. Ritchie said. "With the Port of Vancouver, we've built a partnership that is focused on the US$1 billion-a-year market in transPacific shipments into the Midwest." CPR has primed its Vancouver-Chicago corridor for growth by making large investments to expand track capacity and increase train speed. It has purchased a fleet of 330 high-performance alternating current locomotives to provide highly reliable service across its network. Another 51 locomotives were ordered this year. CPR also carried out an extensive modernization of its Chicago yard, which includes a large intermodal terminal, to speed freight throughput in the Chicago hub. At the same time, the Port of Vancouver and its container terminal operators have expanded the capacity of their facilities. CPR's single-line routing takes containers on double-stack dedicated trains from Vancouver to Moose Jaw, Sask., then south through North Dakota, the Twin Cities and Milwaukee and into Chicago where CPR has first-rate connections with all the major U.S. railways for traffic moving to other U.S. destinations. CPR is the leading carrier at the Port of Vancouver and the Port of Montreal, and is the only transcontinental railway with direct service to the Port of New York/New Jersey. CPR already serves OOCL through the ports of Montreal and New York/New Jersey, NYK through the Port of Montreal, and Lykes through the Port of New York/New Jersey. CPR provides rail and intermodal freight transportation services coast to coast over a 14,000-mile network extending from Montreal to Vancouver, and throughout the U.S. Midwest and Northeast. Serving ports on the east and west coasts, CPR links North America with European and Pacific Rim markets, and is a leading carrier in the intermodal industry. CPR is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Limited. ---- I have seen more stacks than usual around town [ 25 May 2001: Message edited by: CPRailfan ]
More railfanning for us here in Vancouver. I am basing part of my layout on the Port of vancouver. Yea Us!
