CN Announces Plans for New Calgary Intermodal Transload Facility
Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor
CN, Trealmont Transport Inc. (Montship Inc.) and Kaptan US LLC announced March 27 that they have reached an agreement to develop a multimodal transload facility located in the Class I's Calgary Logistics Park. The new facility is expected to be operational in the third quarter of 2024.
According to CN, Kaptan and Trealmont Transport Inc. have agreed to purchase land located within CN’s Calgary Logistics Park and will build a logistics facility designed for transloading intermodal containers originating and departing from the ports of Prince Rupert and Vancouver.
The logistics facility, CN says, will “transform the supply chain tied to transpacific trade by redesigning the flows to an all-rail transload model positioned inland through Calgary” and will “provide rail access with seamless transload of imports to domestic containers and a direct connection for Western Canadian commodities to reload exports.” The facility, CN adds, will be equipped with a mulicommodity crossdock, warehouse, container yard for storage and rail spur connected to the facility, all within CN’s Intermodal Logistics Park.
Calgary is the primary center for distribution in Western Canada, said CN, adding that it “provides the ideal location for transloading 53-foot domestic containers for furtherance inland and reloading 40’s containers with abundant export commodities.” By utilizing the inland transload model, CN says steamship lines “benefit from fully balancing their containers, while assisting beneficial cargo owners with minimal congestion and eliminating costly West Coast labor and trucking to /from the ports.” According to the Class I, the model will create reliable and future capacity to grow.
The movement of freight by rail instead of trucks lowers greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by up to 75%, “providing a more sustainable solution, while enhancing fluidity in the supply chain,” CN said.
“We view Calgary as the next frontier in the transload market,” said Montship Inc. Chairman and CEO Brian McDonald. “It is ideally suited to serve both west coast gateways (Vancouver and Prince Rupert) and will offer significant advantages to both import and export customers. Teaming up with CN and their unmatched network is a unique opportunity for us. We look forward to working with stakeholders to deliver the benefits this project will present.”
“We are extremely happy to partner with Montship and Kaptan and welcome them to CN’s Logistics Park in Calgary,” said CN Vice-President, Intermodal Dan Bresolin. “This new facility will provide value to our customers and the regional economy by leveraging CN’s robust network and two options to Asian markets via the Ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert. This facility will serve both importers to Central Canada and the US Midwest as well as Canadian exporters with direct rail service all located inside CN’s Calgary Logistics Park.”
