In Gear - Today's Trucking

Higher prices for
natural gas and other
energy sources likely
will make coal the
energy of choice for
U.S. electric power generators—and
railroads
have recaptured an
increasing percentage
of coal shipments over
the years. China and
other developing countries
are also importing
more grain, and moving
grain to North
American Pacific ports
is another railroad
forte, Larkin says.
As if on cue, CN Rail
flexed some muscle in a
series of expansion moves
on both sides of the border.
CN and BNSF announced an
agreement on improving rail
network fluidity and
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ON TRACK: Is rail finally
getting its act together?
infrastructure capacity
principally in Vancouver-
Chicago markets. The agreement
includes track and rail
infrastructure exchanges
between the railroads, and
CN’s grant of trackage,
haulage, and other access
rights to BNSF. CN also
purchased the Alberta shortline
railways owned by
RailAmerica, Inc. CN says
Dispatches
these feeder lines to
the oil sands strengthen
the railway’s
merchandise and bulk
commodity businesses
at a time of major
energy development in
northern Alberta.
But it is at the
coastal ports where
the railways’ renaissance
is being mounted.
Container traffic at
the Port of Vancouver
reached a new record
of 1.77 million TEUs
(twenty foot equivalent
units) in 2005.
However, congestion,
outdated infrastructure and
a series of labor disruptions
in recent years have impeded
VanPort from keeping pace
with other Pacific ports in
the U.S.
MARCH 2006 17