British Columbia - CN and CPKC operations have returned to normal in wildfire ravaged British Columbia where a fire halted rail traffic for a day last week, according to RailState, a company that tracks freight rail movements across Canada.
 
The Kookipi Creek Fire shut down the railroads' directional running zone in the Fraser River Canyon on Friday, 18 Aug 2023.
 
The Trans-Canada Highway, which parallels the railroads, remains closed through the area.
 
Trains traveling the directional running zone, where westbounds use CN trackage and eastbounds roll on CPKC, were delayed a day or more.
 
"This was a short but significant delay and we're seeing other wildfire related delays in BC. With wildfires intensifying, backlogs from the BC ports strike still remaining, and the looming grain harvest, the Canadian rail network is under a lot of pressure. For shippers with some optionality, it's critical to know what's going on and identify opportunities," said John Schmitter, RailState's co-founder and chief commercial officer.
 
Travel through the directional running zone from Heffley (CN) and Monte Creek (CPKC) to Chilliwack typically takes less than a day, RailState notes.
 
For trains passing through Heffley on 17 Aug 2023 and headed to Vancouver, the travel time rose to nearly two full days.
 
Trains passing Monte Creek on the 17th saw travel times increase threefold from the expected travel time.
 
While delayed, trains were held in the Kamloops area.
 
The average transit time is now back to normal ranges.
 
The railroads have been deploying fire suppression cars regularly throughout British Columbia.
 
RailState's sensors capture train images throughout the rail network.
 
The images below are fire suppression cars seen at Kissick, Drynoch, and Chase over the past week.
 
Wildfires in the Fraser Canyon area continue to burn and remain a threat to various communities.
 
An evacuation order has been called for the Lytton area and Highway 1 remains closed to traffic.
 
The railroads are actively working to keep the route secure for rail traffic.
 
In the early morning hours on Thursday there was a delay in traffic as a short train with a fire suppression car moved through the Drynoch area.
 
An eastbound intermodal train traveled through Drynoch at 20:23 on 23 Aug 2023.
 
Four hours later, the train with a CPKC fire suppression car traveled westbound, against the flow of normal traffic on this route, at 00:19 on 24 Aug 2023.
 
The next eastbound loaded train came through at 02:08 followed closely by a manifest train and two intermodal trains, all within the next hour.
 
A six-hour gap in eastbound trains is not unheard of for the DRZ, RailState notes, but these service delays and additional resource strains from increased fire protection and maintenance needs highlight the challenges the railroads face.
 
Author unknown.