Port of Vancouver USA receives $2.5 million to ease rail congestion

Port of Vancouver USA receives $2.5 million to ease rail congestion The Port of Vancouver USA's West Vancouver Freight Access Project has been included in the Washington state budget, signed recently by Gov. Chris Gregoire in Olympia, the port said over the weekend.
   The port received $2.5 million of the $10 million it was seeking. The project is being planned to ease congestion cause by the access and egress of unit trains at the port.
   'Without the governor's support, and the work done by all those who supported this effort, it is doubtful that our project would have been given the priority it was in the legislature this year,' Port of Vancouver Executive Director Larry Paulson said in a statement. 'This is critical and timely acknowledgement of the project's importance to the state system and will bring continued momentum to this project.'
   Trains enter and exit the port on what is called the 'Hill Track,' which crosses the north-south main line owned by BNSF Rail Co. Each time a port train crosses the main line, it not only congests train traffic north and south of Vancouver — a key transfer point in the national railroad scheme — it also stops traffic on the BNSF east-west main line.
   The West Vancouver Freight Access Project will allow more 100-car unit trains to enter and exit the port, and will allow for the development of the Columbia Gateway property, the port said in a statement.