The first unit train transported canola meal pellets from Western Canada on CN’s line. The new facility, which officially opened for business on Aug. 31, is currently the only unit train stuffing facility on Canada’s west coast, helping crops transported by CN from Western and Central Canada as well as the American Midwest reach international markets.
“We recognize the importance of making Canadian grain competitive on the global market,” said Doug MacDonald, CN vice-president of bulk. “As such we are pleased to play a role in innovative supply chain partnerships such as this one that will benefit the grain industry.”
The 10-acre facility includes a 100-car rail loop corridor, a grain dumper pit, and a conveyance system. It will transload grain and processed grain products from CN hoppers to ocean liner containers for export. The facility handles agricultural products transported from the United States and Canada in order to meet the increasing demand for containerized grain in international markets.
Located on Ridley Island, adjacent to the newly expanded Port of Prince Rupert Fairview Container Terminal and connected to CN’s extensive network, Ray-Mont Logistics offers a supply chain solution that will change the containerized agricultural product market in Western Canada and offer unparalleled opportunity for agricultural commodity exporters.
“Efficient logistics and innovative transloading go hand in hand and are future-oriented,” said Charles Raymond, president and chief executive officer of Ray-Mont Logistics International. “With top class partners like CN, this project will allow our customers, with current and emerging markets, to grow their exports exponentially — and we are proud to be an active participant.”
CN has a team of approximately 23,000 railroaders that transport more than C$250 billion worth of goods annually for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail network of approximately 20,000 route-miles spanning Canada and mid-America. CN, along with its operating railway subsidiaries, serves the cities and ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, British Colombia, Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Alabama, and the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth, Minnesota/Superior, Wisconsin, and Jackson, Mississippi, with connections to all points in North America.
