Prince Rupert sent a contingent of 11 to help CN and Prince George open up their new inland shipment terminal, destined to be an important link to the Fairview Container Port.
Last Saturday, representatives of the Port Authority, Chamber of Commerce, Ministry of Economic Development and the Daily News were flown into the Central Interior to attend the grand opening of the Prince George terminal.
High on the agenda of speech making for the day was an acknowledgement of the importance of CN Rail to the development of the transportation corridor from Prince Rupert through to the southern United States, a corridor that now will benefit Prince George, by making it a distribution and loading centre for containers of BC and Alberta goods destined for Asia.
The Daily News featured the day’s activities as the front page story in Tuesday’s paper.
PRINCE GEORGE EAGER TO TAP INTO PORT'S NEW LINK TO ASIA
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Pages one and three
PRINCE GEORGE - Prince George on Saturday morning offered quite a change of scenery and climate for the 11 Prince Rupert representatives who attended the grand opening of CN Worldwide's new Distribution Centre and Intermodal Terminal.
But even the snow and negative temperatures couldn't keep members of the Prince Rupert Port Authority, Prince Rupert Chamber of Commerce, Ministry of Economic Development and The Daily News from attending the event that took place inside CN's 84,000-square-foot warehouse facility.
Some 160 other invited guests also braved the frigid conditions to be a part of the noon-hour ceremony, joined by CN staff members as well as local and provincial politicians.
“All of us at CN are proud of our new facility. It used to be an old diesel shop, is’ sure changed,” said Jim Vena, senior vice-president of the western region for CN. “The new facility is a sign of CN’s commitment to this community and recognition of what it offers.”
The facility is the result of a $20 million investment by CN. Products will arrive at the facility either loaded in boxcars on rail tracks that enter the building, or by truck through any of the warehouse’s 38 bay doors. Goods that are destined for Prince George and the surrounding area are unloaded and Canadian products to be shipped overseas to Asia will then be stuffed into containers.
CN is able to move the loaded outbound containers to the container terminal here in Rupert in 15 hours, before they will be loaded aboard ships destined for Asia after brief stops at the ports of Vancouver and Seattle.
“In essence, CN, along with many of you here today have created a supply chain without any weak links,” said Vena. “For us at CN, it’s a dream we’ve had for a number of years, and it took a lot of work to get the terminal in Prince Rupert open. But now that it is, the opportunity is for Prince George and the surrounding communities and the service we can provide for Northern B. C.”
The Distribution Centre and Intermodal Facility will provide rail service daily, and operate from 5 a. m. to 9 p. m. seven days a week. Using lifts and yard tractors, the facility comprises the 84,000 square foot warehouse along with another 10 acres of outside storage.
The facility will be able to accommodate an annual capacity of up to 25,000 containers, with the potential for expansion. The products handled at the distribution centre will include, lumber, panel, wood, pulp and paper, as well as various palletized and bagged goods.
“Today, there’s a new corridor opening up, a corridor opening up between the fastest growing economies of the world in Asia and North America, and Prince George is going to play a very important role as we expand the new Asia-Pacific Gateway,“ said Kevin Falcon, B. C. Minister of Transportation. “If we are truly going to see this gateway materialize and benefit all of our communities, we have to make sure our entire transportation network is operating in sync, so that British Columbia, will, in fact, become the great gateway to Asia from North America.”
Prince Rupert Port Authority President and CEO Don Krusel also spoke to the guests, and began by acknowledging that there would be no trade corridor today without the work of CN Rail.
“Without that ribbon of steel rails that extends from the Port of Prince Rupert through Prince George and all the way to destinations in the heartland of North America, we would not be able to begin talking about importing Asian goods and exporting Canadian goods,” said Krusel. “This rail system, the best-operated rail system in North America, has allowed us to even dream of having this trade corridor, so thank you CN.”
The opening of the Prince George container facility marks one of the last developments to be completed, in what will be the first of many stages for container trade expansion between British Columbia and Asia.
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