HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY TO EASE CONGESTION ON HIGHWAY 401 BY USING EXPRESSWAY RAIL SERVICE TORONTO, ON -- Hudson's Bay Company and Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) today announced a new partnership for shipping truck trailers by rail, to reduce traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions on Highway 401. Hudson's Bay Company will ship 16,000 trailers a year on CPR's Expressway service between Toronto and Montreal, removing approximately 60 trucks a day from Canada's busiest highway. CPR built an Expressway terminal near the Hudson's Bay Company's eastern distribution centre at Scarborough, Ontario, after the retailer approached the railway for help in reducing the number of trailers it hauls on Highway 401. Expressway is a fast roll-on/roll-off trailer-on-train service which allows shippers to bypass congested roads. Standard truck trailers are loaded onto specially built rail cars on scheduled train services operating between Detroit, Toronto and Montreal. Expressway is a unique rail service that can improve truck transportation efficiencies while reducing highway congestion and greenhouse gas emissions.. Four trains a day serve the Scarborough terminal, which opened in February. With an average transit time of seven hours between Montreal and Toronto on Expressway, Hudson's Bay Company has maintained service levels and continued its just-in-time deliveries while reducing transportation costs. "We are appreciative of this initiative to build this Expressway Terminal so close to our Scarborough Distribution Centre," said Mike Thomas, Vice-President, Logistics, Hudson's Bay Company. "It is because of CPR's willingness to take risks for its customers that HBC signed an exclusive full service contract with them." "By working very closely with Hudson's Bay Company, we were able to develop an innovative alternative to moving trailers on the 401," said Hugh MacDiarmid, CPR's Executive Vice President, Commercial. "The Expressway solution proves rail can serve the competitive and time-sensitive retail industry while delivering environmental benefits." The new Montreal-Toronto service is part of a larger partnership which has seen the railway become Hudson's Bay Company's exclusive rail carrier between eastern and western Canada. CPR Intermodal and Hudson's Bay Company have been successful in driving value into the distribution channel in recent years and look forward to continuing their long-term partnership. Hudson's Bay Company, established in 1670, is Canada's largest department store retailer and oldest corporation. The Company provides Canadians with the widest selection of goods and services available through numerous retail channels including more than 500 stores led by the Bay and Zellers chains. Hudson's Bay Company is Canada's fifth largest employer with 70,000 and has operations in every province. 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. (Canadian Pacific Railway, Hudson's Bay Company, April 9 2001) Jon
Sounds good Jon. Seems like an excellent system. Let us hope it goes from strength to strength. Rails are better than highways, right?
Alan, Blake and I were talking about this last night actually. Ontime performance for the Toronto-Detroit section is in the high 90% range. It will take time for sure, to develop on this section. (Saw 123 this afternoon by the GM Plant, had 9024, 5745 Expressway paint). Had only 2 loads, but as it is a reserved space train. If yer loads aint there by the time it leaves.....too bad, ya still pay. It works, just have to market it a bit more at this end, and all should be fine. Jon
