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Canadian National Railway Co.'s intermodal/distribution center in Prince George, British Columbia, is open for business.

Yesterday, Cn launched operations at the center, which the Class I expects to generate backhaul container traffic for freight moving to Asian markets via the new Port of Prince Rupert located 500 miles west of Prince George. Prince Rupert is the closest North American port to Asia, enabling ocean carriers to reduce sailing time by 58 hours compared with other West Coast ports, CN says.

The intermodal yard features two 2,400-foot pad tracks, trucking and truck pick-up facilities, and an automated gate system. The Prince George Distribution Centre features an 84,000 square-foot warehouse and 10 acres of outside storage space. CN WorldWide North America will use the distribution center to provide various freight forwarding services, including product transfer, inspection, consolidation/deconsolidation, inventory control and transportation.

CN will provide direct daily container service from Prince George to the port. The railroad also will move containers between the port and south and central Canada, and the U.S. Midwest.

"The terminal operation will help to maximize the Port of Prince Rupert's role as Canada's newest Pacific gateway for containerized traffic moving between Asia and North America," said Jim Vena, senior vice president of CN's Western Region, in a prepared statement. "The new Prince George facility is ideally situated to tap backhaul export opportunities, filling empty containers moving back to Asia through Prince Rupert with lumber, panels, woodpulp, paper, as well as ores, plastics and some metal products."