CN, CP to help fund Vancouver port infrastructure work

Canada's Minister of Transport Marc Garneau announced late last week the government would invest CA$167 million in three projects to improve port infrastructure and rail infrastructure.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, with investments from Canadian Pacific and CN, will lead the first two projects, according to a press release.

Those projects are designed to:
• improve the existing Thornton Rail Tunnel ventilation system so that trains can pass through the tunnel more frequently;
• improve the rail corridor by building 3.4 miles of track adjacent to the existing double-tracked corridor;
• design and raise Douglas Road so it crosses over the existing CN railway corridor;
• build the Centennial Road overpass, a two-lane elevated viaduct structure;
• extend the existing two-lane Waterfront Road by nearly 2,000 feet; and
• build 5.8 miles of new siding track and reconfiguring train switching operations within the CP railway corridor, along the south shore of Burrard Inlet in the cities of Vancouver and Burnaby.

The third project, led by CN with investment from the port authority, involves designing and building a 2.6-mile secondary track, parallel to the existing Burrard Inlet line, in Vancouver. The increased rail capacity will support the flow of goods through the south shore port area as trade volumes continue to grow, government officials said.

The federal government's support of infrastructure investment in Vancouver through the National Trade Corridors Fund (NTCF) will help the long-term expansion of trade between Canada and Asia, said CN Interim President and Chief Executive Officer JJ Ruest in a press release.

NTCF will provide funding to infrastructure investments that will boost capacity along the rail corridor across the Second Narrows railway bridge linking transportation networks to growing grain, potash, coal and forest products export terminals on Vancouver's North Shore, CN officials said.