The Government of Canada has announced plans to invest C$20m ($15.1m) to increase rail capacity near Abbotsford, British Columbia.
The project will eliminate the last section of singletrack within the 40km-long CN rail corridor, which leads to the Port of Vancouver, and twin approximately 5.6km of Canadian National Railway (CN) tracks.
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The project will also address blockages along the rail corridor and increase the capacity and fluidity. The move aims to accommodate the growth in train traffic between export terminals at Burrard Inlet and Roberts Bank.
Canada Minister of Transport Marc Garneau said: “Our government is investing in Canada’s economy by making improvements to our trade and transportation corridors.
“We are supporting projects to efficiently move goods to market and people to their destinations, stimulate economic growth, create quality middle-class jobs, and ensure that Canada’s transportation networks remain competitive and efficient.”
Canada’s railway transports over 358 million tonnes of goods per year through its 5.2 million carloads that are pulled by over 2,800 locomotives.
Handling 147.1 million tonnes of cargo in 2018, the Port of Vancouver is Canada’s largest port in terms of volume.
Through its National Trade Corridors Fund, the Canadian government is investing in projects that improve the flow of goods exported to international markets, as well as projects that generate new overseas trade.
