Calgary Alberta - Canadian Pacific Railway expects to spend more than $500 million on new high-capacity (102 tonne) grain hopper cars over the next four years.
 
The company announced its plan in a 7 Jun 2018 news release, adding that grain shippers can expect to see 500 of the so-called jumbo hopper cars in CP's fleet before the end of 2018.
 
All told, the company plans to order 5,900 new hopper cars over the next four years.
 
This will allow CP to remove all low-capacity hoppers from the company's fleet, including all Government of Canada cars.
 
CP's fleet renewal plan began with an initial order for 1,000 jumbo hoppers cars from National Steel Car of Hamilton.
 
The new hoppers are shorter and lighter than the older, low-capacity hoppers and can carry more grain per unit.
 
According to CP, the new units will handle about 15 percent more grain by volume and heavier load weights.
 
The new cars also have a higher profile and frames that are three-feet shorter (56 feet versus 59 feet) than existing hoppers.
 
That will allow six additional cars to be placed in CP's standard 7,000 foot dedicated grain trains.
 
The decision to invest in new cars is part of a larger CP plan to move toward 8,500 foot dedicated grain trains, consisting of as many as 147 jumbo hoppers.
 
At full capacity, an 8,500-foot-long train comprised solely of jumbo hoppers would be capable of moving 15,000 tonnes of wheat.
 
By comparison, CP's current 7,000-foot-long grain trains made up of entirely of low capacity hopper cars has a maximum capacity of 10,400 tonnes.
 
The new configuration would mean a 44 percent improvement, based on tonnes of wheat per train.
 
Western Producer.