Report: Ottawa considering $2 billion investment in CP Rail intermodal service

OTTAWA (Sept. 5, 2001) — Canadian Pacific Railway Co. is lobbying the federal government to invest $2-billion in the company’s short-haul intermodal service in Ontario, according to a Global News report yesterday.

Robert Ritchie, president and CEO of the railroad, explained the plan during a private meeting with Transport Minister David Collenette, the report said.

The money would be used to upgrade track and build a second rail line between Toronto and Windsor so trains could run simultaneously in opposite directions. The intent is to ease traffic congestion on Hwy. 401 by shifting freight from trucks to Expressway, CPR’s roll-on/roll-off intermodal service operating in the Windsor-Toronto-Montreal corridor.

The report indicated that Expressway would operate as a private-public partnership.

CPR markets Expressway to trucking companies and private fleet operators as an alternative to short and mid-range inter-city road hauls.

It’s estimated 400,000 vehicles drive Hwy. 401 every day, 80,000 of them trucks. Collenette has said recently that reducing traffic congestion in urban areas should be a top priority of his department.