Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) has launched a direct rail transportation service between Vancouver in Canada and Detroit in the US in a bid to increase its reach to key markets.
The new service will utilise CP's latest transload facility in Vancouver o facilitate cross-border shipments, along with its live-lift operation in Portal, North Dakota.
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The service is scheduled to run seven days a week and is expected to reduce transit times from the West Coast to Detroit by nearly 48 hours compared to the existing services.
CP senior vice-president and chief marketing officer John Brooks said: “We've worked hard to reshape our footprint in the Vancouver area to improve efficiency and boost capacity for our customers.
“And now, with our live-lift operation in Portal, we can expedite service and truly exploit the strengths of our network to provide unparalleled service and value in the Vancouver-to-Detroit lane.”
The Vancouver transload operation is located near CP's carload and intermodal facility, and is intended to enable the company to move between terminals and ports via rail.
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By GlobalDataAdditionally, the service is expected to reduce traffic congestion in the Vancouver area by enabling a low-cost, environmentally friendly alternative to truck-based transportation.
CP began live-lift operations at the Portal border crossing during the second quarter of this year, which will help the company lift single containers off of trains for inspection instead of examining the entire intermodal railcars.
The live-lift operations are intended to facilitate cross-border business operations by reducing delays to containers that haven't been flagged for inspection.
CP currently serves both the Port of Montreal and the Port of Vancouver on a daily basis via its Detroit terminal.
The company operates in Canada and the US with direct links to eight major ports, and specialises in providing freight transportation services, logistics solutions and supply chain expertise.
