22 September 2006
Vancouver Port Can Handle Asian Growth, Says CP Rail
Toronto Ontario - Canada needs to fix a
perception in Asia that Vancouver's ports are too congested to handle increased freight traffic to the United States, Canadian Pacific
Railway's chief executive said on Thursday.
The railway has actively promoted Vancouver as an entry point for growing container traffic from Asia to U.S. markets, allowing shippers
to bypass increasingly crowded port facilities on the U.S. Pacific coast.
Fred Green said some shippers believe Vancouver cannot handle the increased container traffic because of congestion problems that
happened several years ago.
"We do have a problem in Asia because of the perception... It's not because it's happening today, but because of the history of
uncertainty," Green told RBC Capital Market's annual transportation conference in Toronto.
The Port of Vancouver, and the neighboring Fraser River Port are served by Canadian Pacific, Canadian National Railway and
U.S.-based rail carrier BNSF.
Canadian officials have said more improvements will be needed for the road and rail systems supporting Vancouver's ports, but Green said
they had to move beyond the planning stage to convince Asian shippers.
Green said CP has seen strong enough growth in intermodal container traffic from Vancouver to the U.S. Midwest that it plans to start
hauling refrigerated containers between Vancouver and Chicago at the end of the month.
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