Calgary Alberta - Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP) has launched direct rail transportation service between Vancouver and Detroit.
 
CP says its transload facility in Vancouver and a live-lift operation at Portal, North Dakota, USA, accelerate cross-border shipments and cut transit times from the West Coast to Detroit by as much as 48 hours.
 
"We've worked hard to reshape our footprint in the Vancouver area to improve efficiency and boost capacity for our customers," said John Brooks, CP's senior vice-president and chief marketing officer.
 
"And now, with our live-lift operation in Portal, we can expedite service and truly exploit the strengths of our network to provide unparalleled service and value in the Vancouver-to-Detroit lane."
 
CP's new service runs from Vancouver to Detroit seven days a week.
 
The Vancouver transload operation at CP's carload and intermodal facility connects by rail terminals and ports that other shippers access using trucks.
 
CP says the route reduces traffic congestion in the Vancouver area, resulting in a lower cost, environmentally friendly, strategic, advantage.
 
The new service allows CP to lift single containers off trains for inspection by customs authorities rather than having entire intermodal railcars, which can carry up to 15 containers, held up.
 
This eliminates delays to containers not flagged for inspection, making it easier and faster for customers to do cross-border business between Vancouver and the Twin Cities, Chicago, and beyond.
 
From Detroit, CP now serves both the Port of Montreal and the Port of Vancouver daily in and out of its CP-controlled terminal.
 
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