December 5, 2021 – CP’s said in a customer advisory on Friday that recovery efforts on its Thompson and Cascade subdivisions in British Columbia continue in a safe, steady and deliberate manner. That route is CP’s busiest corridor, handling a wide range of products and commodities. It links the Port of Vancouver and B.C. to the rest of Canada and North America. The corridor includes a directional running zone where CP and CN share rail infrastructure to maximize capacity for both railroads. During CN’s outage, CP continues to share its single line capacity with CN, operating in both directions. Delays in the directional running zone will continue until CN restores its main line. The B.C. government announced the reopening of Highway 1 between Abbotsford and Hope on December 2, signalling a gradual improvement in travel conditions in the province after almost two weeks of flooding and landslides disrupted road and rail connections throughout the Lower Mainland. However, the situation remains tricky for many businesses, including those using rail services to and from the Port of Vancouver.
December 3, 2021 – Danaos-owned Zim-chartered vessel Zim Kingston, which lost 109 containers amid a cargo fire off the coast of Vancouver in October, is set to leave its mooring on Constance Bank, near Vancouver Island, on Friday. It will be heading for the port of Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island’s east shore, where discharge of the undamaged cargo will reportedly take place. However, casualty support company WK Webster said Zim Kingston would discharge only damaged containers on Vancouver Island, before the ship heads to the Port of Vancouver to unload the remaining cargo. No confirmation of this plan has been received from either Zim or Danaos. For our customers on this affected vessel that have already put up their Average Bond, containers will be released once arrived. For more details, please contact us at zimkingston
December 3, 2021 – CP and CN eastbound and westbound trains are operating on CP’s mainline between Vancouver and Kamloops. Enhanced track inspections and maintenance are ongoing and low-speed restrictions remain in place. CN engineering teams continue to make progress on repairs to their mainline between Kamloops and Boston Bar. CN anticipates restoration of its rail line late on Friday today.
December 2, 2021 – CP and CN eastbound and westbound trains continue to transit on CP’s mainline between Vancouver and Kamloops. Enhanced track inspections and maintenance are ongoing and low-speed restrictions remain in place. Engineering teams continue to undertake repairs on CN’s mainline between Kamloops and Boston Bar at a site impacted by heavy precipitation. A timeline for restored rail operations through the site is currently unavailable. Our newsletter that was published yesterday provides more information. Readers are encouraged to sign up to receive the latest information.
December 1, 2021 – Heavy rainfall across southwestern B.C. will continue through Wednesday, with improved weather forecast for Thursday and Friday. New evacuation orders for multiple communities have been issued. The provincial state of emergency declared by the B.C. Minister of Public Safety has been extended to December 14. Rail operations: CP and CN eastbound and westbound trains continue to transit on CP’s mainline between Vancouver and Kamloops. Enhanced rail infrastructure inspections and maintenance are ongoing. CN engineering teams continue to undertake repairs at a site impacted by heavy precipitation. A timeline for restored rail operations through the site is currently unavailable. Truck operations: Container terminal truck activity is steady. Restored highway routes include detours, intermittent closures and essential-traffic-only restrictions. Proactive closures may occur when heavy rainfall is forecast. Reconstruction and repairs continue on major roadways across the region. Marine operations: Demand for anchorages currently exceeds capacity.
November 30, 2021 – The coastal areas of B.C. including Vancouver and Prince Rupert experienced high winds and rain in the past few days. CP has reopened one of its main lines and both CN and CP trains are operating on the restored lines to clear backlog with limited speed. CN reopened its line for short period of time over the past weekend however had to shut it down again because of the severe weather conditions. Due to continuing weather challenges, it is not clear at this moment when the repairs would be completed. Meanwhile, terminals in both Vancouver and Prince Rupert are congested, working at full capacity and dwell times are expected to increase with heavy volumes at terminals. We expect vessels operations to slow down due to lack of rail cars and terminals metering vessels discharge to terminal capacity. As the adverse weather conditions is expected to continue, we are monitoring the situation closely with CN and CP rails, all terminals in B.C. area and we will update once more information is available. Thank you for your attention and understanding on this matter. We will keep you posted of any further developments.
November 29, 2021 – Both CP and CN eastbound and westbound trains are operating on CP’s mainline between Vancouver and Kamloops. Enhanced rail infrastructure inspections and maintenance by engineering teams and track patrols are ongoing. CN operated multiple trains on their rail line through the Fraser Canyon corridor over the weekend. They halted operations through a site impacted by heavy precipitation to undertake repairs. Heavy precipitation across southwestern B.C. is forecast for Tuesday.
November 28, 2021 – CP’s mainline between Kamloops and Vancouver is closed to enable engineering teams to conduct inspections and undertake repairs to stabilize sites impacted by rainfall. No new washouts have been reported. CN operated numerous trains over its mainline in the last 24 hours, but it has ceased operations to enable inspections and address ongoing water concerns. A timeline for fully restored rail operations to the West Coast is currently unavailable. Meanwhile, the Port of Vancouver currently has about 40 vessels anchored or at berth which exceeds capacity. Customers are advised that delays will continue until this situation resolves itself.
November 26, 2021 – Both CP and CN eastbound and westbound trains are transiting on CP’s mainline between Vancouver and Kamloops. Recent rainfall did not negatively impact the restored rail infrastructure. Low-speed restrictions remain in place and intermittent closures may occur to address repairs and ensure safe operations. CN anticipates the opening of their mainline late tonight, barring ongoing issues with water diversion.
November 26, 2021 – The Government of Canada and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority are undertaking a joint initiative to provide additional container storage capacity to ease supply chain constraints and bottlenecks in the Lower Mainland areas exacerbated by extreme weather disruptions. The project includes preparation of a 40-acre site within the Fraser Richmond Industrial Lands for the temporary handling and storage of empty containers. Work to prepare the site for storage services and contract an operator will occur over the coming weeks. The site is expected to be used until service levels return to pre-flood conditions.