16 February 2007
CP Rail Declares Force Majeure at Vancouver Port
Vancouver British Columbia - Canadian Pacific Railway
declared a force majeure on shipments to some terminals at the Pacific port of Vancouver because of the Canadian National Railway Co.
strike, officials said on Friday.
Canadian Pacific said the facilities were on the north shore of Vancouver's Burrard Inlet where Canadian National handles train
switching operations under a co-production agreement between the two railways.
The strike by Canadian National's conductors and switch yard employees that began on 10 Feb 2007 has meant their work was
now being done by management personnel, and a CN spokesman said additional people have now been assigned to the area to deal with
delays.
A Canadian Pacific spokesman said the strike was also slowing interchange traffic between Canada's largest railways at some other
points in the country, but that overall it was not yet causing major problems for CP's operations.
"It's something that we are watching very closely, as you can appreciate," said CP spokesman Ed Greenberg.
The problems with shipments to and from the north shore of Vancouver's Burrard Inlet were beyond CP Rail's control, it said in a memo
sent to shippers declaring force majeure on contracts starting on 14 Feb 2007.
"Interchange traffic and co-production with CN on the north shore is not moving smoothly and has been experiencing
congestion related to events beyond CPR's reasonable control, including the strike by conductors employed by the CN," the memo
said.
The terminals at Vancouver's north shore handle grain, chemicals, wood products, and fertilizers. Owners include the Canadian division
of Dow Chemical as well as Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, Canada's No. 2 grain shipper.
CP did not identify what products were affected.
Greenberg said Canadian Pacific has not been trying to take advantage of its larger rival's woes by soliciting traffic because of the
strike. "Our focus has been on serving our existing customers," he said.
The strike has not disrupted other areas of the railways's track networks where CN and CP have co-production agreements,
such as through British Columbia's Fraser Canyon where they use each other's main line tracks, Greenberg
said.
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