CN to Boost Capacity With New Midwest Terminal

CN will open a terminal in New Richmond, Wis., on March 1 to provide direct CN Intermodal service to the Twin Cities market.

The new CN facility will include an automotive compound for finished vehicles as well as an intermodal terminal to serve shippers and receivers in the Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minn., metropolitan area. It will serve a range of import and export industries, including automotive and finished consumer goods, grain, soybean, and forest products.

“The New Richmond terminal is strategically located at the center of the CN network allowing direct access to our reliable, three-coast rail network for importing vehicles and consumer products from around the globe,” said Keith Reardon, CN Senior Vice-President, Consumer Product Supply Chain. “Customers now have another direct link to their Midwest markets as well as a new and efficient option for shipping export commodities to global markets.”

Added Bruce Abbe, Strategic Advisor for Trade and Transportation, Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance: “CN’s development of the New Richmond facility will provide vital access to containers for agricultural exporters to meet customer demand in Europe and Asia. Competitive container shipping is vital for American agriculture to serve the growing global consumer market for high value, specialized grain, soy, and food ingredients.

“Intermodal rail service also offers the additional environmental and transportation cost reduction benefit of helping reduce long-distance highway truck traffic that now is extensively hauling inbound international container freight from Chicago to the Twin Cities. We are hopeful this new facility will further solidify the Twin Cities and western Wisconsin as a major regional transportation logistics hub,” Abbe said.