Tuesday, November 23, 2021

CP rail line to Vancouver opens

Canadian Pacific Railway said its line from Kamloops to Vancouver is back open today after repairs at 30 locations.


Heavy rain and mudslides created blockages, ending rail transportation for exports such as grain and imports.


CP workers’ “dedication, grit and perseverance in the face of extremely challenging conditions are the reasons we are able to restore our vital rail network in only eight days,” said chief executive officer Keith Creel.


CP said its repair crews have moved 150,000 cubic yards of earth and rock to rebuild damaged areas and that it deployed “hundreds” of CP employees and contractors to assist.


The next 10 days will be “critical,” Creel added. “As we move from response to recovery to full service resumption, our focus will be on working with customers to get the supply chain back in sync.”


Canadian National Railway has not said when it might re-open its lines.


CN spokesperson Jonathan Abecassis said there were four points on what the company calls the Squamish subdivision that had been impacted by landslides, washouts and “other things.”


“The track is not passable this time,” he said. “The whole subdivision is closed.”