Rubber meets the rail in Alberta

GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta. (Aug. 28, 2002) — An Alberta short line railway and a local trucking company have joined and opened a new intermodal operation along the northwest corridor of Alberta and British Columbia.

Wiebe Transport and Alberta RailNet, both based in Grande Prairie 450 km north of Edmonton, opened the rail-truck cargo flow service today as the first shipments of sodium sulphite were delivered by rail from Pennsylvania and transshipped for local delivery by truck to Taylor, B.C.

Alberta RailNet, a short line railway formed in 1999, feeds freight traffic to and from the North American railroad network through main line, long haul carrier Canadian National Railway.

“The facility will handle all bulk commodities to and from this area – either railed in and trucked out, or trucked in and railed out,” Greg Pichette, RailNet vice-president and general manager said in a press release.

Added Ron Ron Wiebe, general manager of the trucking company: “We are already receiving inquiries from other firms who want to make use of this new terminal.” He said the Wiebe cargo flow distribution facility gives Alberta RailNet and its customers “highway-rail reach” to markets that were formerly exclusive to one mode or the other.