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Through June, Canadian Pacific Railway is phasing in an equipment allocation system designed to avoid supply-chain and traffic congestion on Canada's West Coast.

The Class I will allocate containers annually to Vancouver Gateway shippers based on past volumes and growth projections. CPR then will supply sufficient rail cars to meet an allocated volume.

"This is a critically important part of a more disciplined and orderly approach to the integrated logistics system," said Fred Green, CPR executive vice president of operations and marketing, in a prepared statement. "It encompasses shipping lines, ports, and terminal operators, as well as customers that transload import shipments into domestic containers."

During the first quarter, CPR moved 24 percent more international containers through the Vancouver Gateway compared with similar 2003 data. In late 2003 and early 2004, a sudden container volume surge caused bottlenecks and container backlogs at Canadian and U.S. West Coast ports.

"In the absence of a regulatory and tax environment in Canada that supports large-scale infrastructure expansion, disciplined control systems are required," said Green. "Without a positive change in the legislative environment, infrastructure expansion will be an increasingly critical issue for Canada's economic growth."

In addition to implementing the allocation system, CPR is integrating 5,500 new intermodal cars into its fleet and introducing remote-control locomotive power to intermodal service.