CN reopens key Port of Vancouver rail line — again

CN has resumed service on its Kamloops-Vancouver corridor, the Canadian railway said on Monday, restoring a critical rail link to the Port of Vancouver.

The rail corridor was shut down three weeks ago as a result of damages brought by flooding and landslides that devastated British Columbia. CN (NYSE: CNI) had briefly restored service two weeks later before shutting it down again as a precautionary measure.

“CN crews will continue to monitor both the rail infrastructure as well as the terrain over the coming days and weeks to come,” the railway said in a statement.

The resumption of CN’s Kamloops-Vancouver service should give the Port of Vancouver much-needed relief from a massive backlog of rail shipments and vessels. As of Monday morning, 53 vessels, including six container ships, were waiting to berth — a level of congestion that has persisted for more than a week.

CN has been sharing Canadian Pacific’s (NYSE: CP) Kamloops-Vancouver line, which resumed operations two weeks ago. But the traffic running through has been extremely limited. 

The volume of containers coming out of Vancouver via rail has been slowly recovering. As of Sunday, the outbound container volume from Vancouver stood at about 37% of its pre-disruption level, according to FreightWaves’ SONAR platform. 

More coverage

• Vancouver port trucker strike averted as union reaches deal with 2nd carrier
• Port of Vancouver ship queue tops 50 as rail woes persist
• CN’s main link to Port of Vancouver remains closed

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