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Canadian Pacific Railway and the Canadian government plan to up the rail security ante at the country's busiest border crossing. Yesterday, railroad and government officials announced they will jointly spend more than $8 million to install a Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS) designed to secure CPR's five-mile line between Windsor, Ontario, and the U.S. border in Detroit.

VACIS is designed to scan rail-car and container contents as trains pass at between 4 mph and 6 mph. The system can scan a one-mile-long train in about 10 minutes. CPR already has installed VACIS in Rouses Point, N.Y., Noyes, Minn., and Portal, N.D.

CPR and the government also plan to install surveillance systems and fencing, reconfigure track, and modify signals and communications to create a secure zone through which scanned trains can proceed into the United States.

"No border location is more critical to trade than the Windsor-Detroit crossing, which includes the Detroit River rail tunnel," said CPR President and Chief Executive Officer Rob Ritchie in a prepared statement. "Our funding partnership will ensure that this essential rail traffic remains safe and secure, while maintaining fluid trade flow, with fewer interruptions and shorter delays."