8 June 2005
Track Expansion Adds Efficiency
Coquitlam - Port Coquitlam's train yard just got a lot more
efficient with the first of Canadian Pacific Railway's 25 improvement projects - the addition of a
2,591-metre track that will enhance service to the Port of Vancouver.
The new track, part of a $160 million program to increase train capacity by 12 percent on CPR's
network between the Prairies and the Port of Vancouver, will be a waiting area for trains carrying
Canadian bulk commodities destined for ocean-going ships calling at Vancouver. Trains
can now be staged close to the port until the designated ship arrives instead of on sidings, which
are valuable passing lanes built alongside the main line.
The new staging track will leave sidings open for moving trains, allowing for more efficient
transport, increased fluidity in the area and better service to the Port of Vancouver, according to
CPR spokesperson Ed Greenberg. "Coquitlam is the first and one of the key ones in our $160
million expansion project," he added. Although the project took place in Port Coquitlam, CPR's
Calgary head office refers to the area as their Coquitlam yard.
The 25 projects are being done throughout B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan but Greenberg said the new
Port Coquitlam track is particularly important. "It improves our efficiency because previously
trains were staged on sidings outside the yard along the corridor, sometimes many miles from the Port
of Vancouver. This is a major scheduling improvement for us."
The staging track took five weeks to construct and required 285 tons of steel rail, 4,250 crossties
and 5,640 tons of rock ballast. It was completed at the end of May.
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