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CPR Magazine Article
Communications and Public Affairs
P.O. Box 6042, Station Centre-ville
Montreal P.Q. H3C 3E4
 

Volume 26   Number 3

April 1996


E&N Railfreight:  New Rail Venture for Vancouver Island
Don Bower and Steve Morris

Rollout:  GP-38 locomotive sports the new E&N Railfreight colors.
A new railway freight venture for Vancouver Island was launched 11 Mar 1996 by CP Rail System.
 
E&N Railfreight will be a separate business and operating unit of CPRS, marketed and managed from headquarters in Nanaimo, B.C.
 
  The Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway (E&N) began operations in September 1886. It was built by a syndicate headed by Robert Dunsmuir, a leading coal-mining industrialist and a member of the B.C. legislature. The first regular E&N train operated from Victoria West to Nanaimo. By 1888, extensions from Esquimalt to Victoria and from Nanaimo to Wellington were completed. The CPR bought the E&N in 1905.
"The creation of E&N Railfreight comes as a result of two years of internal study at CPRS. It also comes after a lot of dialogue and listening to various government, community, employee, and citizen interests", said Ed Dodge, executive vice-president at the railway.
 
"Our aim is quite simple, keep E&N Railfreight viable and work in partnership with our employees and the communities on the Island to build a sustainable, growing business.
 
E&N Railfreight will have 53 employees and more than 285 km (177 miles) of track, extending from Victoria north to Courtenay and from Parksville northwest to Port Alberni.
 
The new operating unit will not offer passenger services but will continue to make track infrastructure available to VIA Rail, Canada's national passenger railway.
 
E&N Railfreight has rail connections to the B.C. mainland via ship service at Nanaimo. The railway handles commodities such as forest products, grain, petrochemicals, and consumer goods.
 
Marty Cove, former manager of commercial projects for business development & strategic planning at CPRS, is chief operating officer of E&N Railfreight. He reports directly to Pat Pender, vice-president of field operations.
 
Cove headed up a two-year study of business opportunities on Vancouver Island prior to the formation of E&N Railfreight.


Click to enarge drawing

This CP Rail News article is copyright 1996 by Canadian Pacific Railway and is reprinted here with their permission. All photographs, logos, and trademarks are the property of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.