New CN intermodal terminal opens in Edmonton

EDMONTON (Oct. 3, 2001) — Canadian National Railway Co. CEO Paul Tellier inaugurated its $25-million intermodal terminal in Edmonton yesterday, promising more efficient container service.

The terminal is located at 184th Street, north of Yellowhead Trail, on 370 acres of land adjacent to CN’s transcontinental main line. It is equipped with three front-lift mobile cranes and has seven tracks that can accommodate trains up to 12,000 feet long. Two pad tracks can handle full-length trains without switching.

The terminal has the capacity to handle 150,000 intermodal units a year, but Tellier told about 200 guests at a ribbon-cutting ceremony that capacity could be increased “to 225,000 units per year over time.” He did not offer specifics about how that would be accomplished, or when.

The new terminal is part of CN’s focus on improving intermodal service. The railway has made significant strides with transcontinental schedules, chopping almost 24 hours off intermodal transit times between Toronto and Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver.

“More and more, with our more competitive cost structure, we can take containers off the highway,” said Tellier. “It means governments, taxpayers like you and I, don’t have to spend as much on the highway cost structure.”