Inland Container Port On Track

Wednesday, May 16, 2007 02:27 PM

L-R Tom Bourgonje CN's GM for the Mountain Division and Jamie Boychuck Superintendent for CN's Northern Region talk with Terry Campbell of Prince George

CN Rail's General Manager of the Mountain Division, Tom Bourgonje, says the inland container port to be built at the First Avenue rail yards in Prince George will create 50 full time jobs.

That project is costing CN $20 million dollars and Bourgonje says it will be ready in time "Basically we're right on track. We've started doing all the building modifications we have to do to our buildings in the yard and we have a design that is done, we have a design in place, and we have the contracts going out and everything wil be done by our deadline of October first."

Two track lines, 2200 feet long are being added to the First Avenue yard, and that will enable the crews to handle 60 - 70 containers a day. Initially it will see one extra train each way . The train's have already been given numbers #99 ( dubbed the Gretzky) and #98.

"We are about to see a geographical shift in North America's transportation. We are going to make Prince George the centre of the world, and it is going to become a major North American corridor, there is just no doubt about it."

In his luncheon address to the Prince George Chamber of Commerce, Bourgonje praised all who worked on landing the inland intermodal port "Everyone here has done an excellent job in proving the business case to locate the inland port in Prince George, this is an incredible opportunity not only for Prince George, but for all the communities around it."

While he says the completed facility will employ 50 people, Bourgonje says that could grow " That could of course expand as things ramp up and customers see how it works, there could be an increase in demand. Right now we are focusing on the east-west corridor and Chicago and Memphis."

Bourgonje says CN is spending $1.6 billion dollars in 2007 on capital and infrastructure.

Here are some of the dollars being spent:

ordered 50 new locomotives,
purchased 1100 new platform cars ( that could be increased to 3300)
$350 million on the Prince Rupert Port, with terminal, tracks, new tunnels, extra sidings, and extensions to sidings between Winnipeg and Prince Rupert.
$20 million on Prince George container port

Bourgonje is aware customers and communities are very concerned about safety. "Simply put, it is in our best business interest to our customers, our employes and our communities to operate a safe and efficient railway."

"In 2005 we had a rash of incidents which we are not very proud of, but we developed a foucs safety action plan and we live to it to a T" Bourgonje says following that plan helped the railway reduce accidents in 2006 by 50%. "We are going to continue to be super, super focused on safety."

Bourgonje wrapped up his address saying "CN is very proud to be in your community, and we are very proud of our employees in your community."

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Posted on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 02:27 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Foo738 on May 16 2007 6:06 PM

What is 50 jobs in Prince George compared to the damage that can happen to our City??
This is a big misfortune for our City and how we are so impressed with multi-national corporations that do not give a care for the populace? Do the local politicians feel so small that they must be impressed by the dollars of the multi-national corporations?

This is a sell out of our City and our safety. The noise, the pollution and the safety of our populace should be Number 1
not dining these guys who are only small representatives of the multi-national corporation.

Believe it;this particular corporation does not give a care for Prince George and they probably go home and smirk about how easy it was to buy the local politicians into the corporations' big time plans.

I will bet there was not one of the locally elected Council who did not feel important by the attention of CN.

I am disgusted; what are 50 jobs and wining and dining compared to the safety of over 70,000 people?

Posted by: Runner46 on May 16 2007 8:09 PM

You have got to be kidding, right? I am with you on growth being dangerous, but I really think you are being small minded about us not being able to mitigate the side effects.

You might want to check out Manson Creek for a place to live.

Posted by: Palopu on May 16 2007 9:21 PM

In the last 30 Years CN got rid of approx 1800 Jobs between Jasper and Prince Rupert. I guess we can feel fortunate that we are going to get back 50.

To suggest that this Container Reload Facility and One Train in each direction per day, plus 50 jobs is going to make Prince George the centre of the world and a major North American Corridor in pure **Balderdash** I wonder what this guy was drinking.

In terms of World Transportation, Volume of Shipments, Tonnes Handled etc; this whole Container Terminals Concept as it has been discribed so far, could only be termed as ** Small Potatoes**

Just one example. The Port of Shanghai loads and unloads more Containers in one month than the Port of Vancouver and Prince Rupert would do in a year. Never mind what is going on all over the world.

When the dust settles after the first train passes through Prince George on its way to Chicago, Memphis, and all the glad handing, and back slapping subsides, things will settle in, and people will then be able to get a better feel for what is actually taking place.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on May 16 2007 10:25 PM

You mean that this guy did all this glad handing and back slapping and nobody mentioned the AIRPORT??
A while back it was all about planes because of CN and the port expansion.
Passenger planes,cargo planes,all kinds of planes!
Not that I could see what it had to do with anything or why there would be?
So how is the airport expansion going?

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on May 16 2007 10:35 PM

"The Port of Shanghai..." Yah right. Skill testing question.

What are the chances the City Council and the whiner activist in this town, would ever turn our business people loose to produce that dynamic economy? --Bleep-- You fail.

Pick a better example Palopu. On a world scale what CN is dropping in PG is a joke, haha. On the scale losers can handle it is an enormous challenge. Look what Foo738 wrote for pete sake.

Posted by: Chadermando on May 16 2007 11:22 PM

Foo is right in that you can be guaranteed that the city of PG is going to have to subsidize CN Rail for the infrastructure needed to have a 'center of the world' transportation hub with the costs for CN ending in the CN Yard, and the cost of the city picking up all the road and traffic costs within the city core.

Why do I have to pay $20,000 to get water and sewer bought six feet onto my property from 6 feet of the property and CN Rail gets to cost this city millions in road infrastructure problems. My development has to have costs paid up front, and CN's development is fully subsidized after the fact.

So lets face it that the new Cameron Street Bridge is a $20 million dollar subsidy to CN's transportation hub plan. In the mean time our residential streets in the neighbourhood will bear the additional cost, and any improvements to mitigate this cost are an indirect subsidy.

Do the citizens of PG want a major switching yard on top of one of our cities major water wells?

Does the city support CN's planned use of city streets for its transportation hub in the most convenient location for CN, or is another location like say Shelly more convenient for the city, with CN and the senior levels of government sharing its true cost of development and the city directing future industrial development in the direction city planners want to develop and not CN planners?

Should the city of Prince George be subsidizing the federal and provincial governments in their transportation policies? Why should Prince George be alone in this responsibility to the nation.

What about the added noise and air pollution of more diesel engines running trains in the yard?

Does the city have future plans to one day reclaim the river front for downtown revitalization?

Would it make sense to start planning around a ring road infrastructure rather than force an inefficient catch-up infrastructure on an unplanned build out?

How many long haul trucks will lose their income as a result of the new short haul realities? Net gain or net lose in regional employment income? If net loss, then why the need to subsidize the project in its present form?

Is it convenient that the new plans long delayed are now announced at the last minute under wine and cheese before we as a city can have any input on what the implications of this most convenient for CN location has on the rest of the city? Or was that all part of the plan?

Lots of questions, but thsi gets us warmed up I think?

Posted by: Chadermando on May 16 2007 11:46 PM

CN announced their container port plans at least five years ago? An inland container port only months before the first ships arrive? Why so late?

Whats the rush now, it wouldn't seem the Prince Rupert port requires the PG inland container port so why not plan for the right fit for everyone if we have so much time as to spring it at such a late stage?

Posted by: Palopu on May 17 2007 7:05 AM

As I said (1) Train in each direction per day is nothing. When the coal trains were running from Tumbler Ridge to Prince Rupert you had 2 Trains in each direction per day, so from a train point of view you will not even notice the increase.

The Reload Facility is supposedly at some point going to load 60 or 70 Containers per day. Well guess what, this many Containers could be loaded at the (3) Pulp Mills in Prince George with no problem. This pulp is already loaded into trucks and rail cars to Vancouver so it would be no big deal to load them into Containers at the Mills. 60 Containers per day over a 24 hour period means approx 3 Containers per hour or 3 empties to the mills and 3 loads back. So 6 Containers travelling around Prince George every hour. Big deal.

With the loss of some trucks to Vancouver because of the loading at Prince George you wont notice any difference in the Traffic around Prince George. When the BC Rail operated their Intermodal Facility in Prince George they loaded out approx 60 Intermodal Trucks per day, and no one complained. What makes you think this operation will be any different.?????

Posted by: realitycheck on May 17 2007 9:05 AM

Unbeleivable the negativity this site breeds! 50 jobs is 50 jobs! Everyone here swore up and down we'd never see ANYTHING from the port and now that 50 jobs and milions of dollars are announced it's not enough!
Can we be more hypocritical??
Sure it's not perfect, and sure it's not the hundreds of jobs some thought we might get but it's early and I for one prefer to look at the positives rather than constantly finding some way to see everything in a hugely negative light.
It's OK to be realistic, but doomsaying seems to be the order of the day for the majority of you.

Posted by: metalman on May 17 2007 11:07 AM

Well, thank you too, Mr. reality check.
Let there be sweetness and light for all, and no dishonest persons to cast a cloud upon your make believe world.
Mr/Ms. Owl has it all correct, IMHO.
That guy from CN must assume the rest of us are as short sighted, gullible, and lacking in memory as our municipal and provincial politicians. Some of the statements he made are simply idiotic. Only a moron would believe everything that dribbled out of his mouth at the Chamber luncheon.Hey, don't get me wrong, there are some good things that will flow from the work being done in P.G. like the interior demolition at least, of the old C.N. shop on River road, that is being done by a local contractor.
But CN will benefit from our existing infrastructure and future improvements.
metalman.

Posted by: He speaks on May 17 2007 11:33 AM

It appears that a lot people out there thinks that progress and providing good employment for the residence is a bad thing.

It is probably true that the city will need to cater to the major corporation to get the inland port started. But as a tax payer, it is an investment.

What does those 50 jobs mean. It means probably $2.5 to $3.0 million dollars in wages, not to mention the spin off jobs from the 50 jobs which impacts the entire city. The impact is likely to be over $6.0 million dollars. What about the service industry that is going to benefit from the increased traffic.

What does the 50 jobs mean, likely a son or daughter will get a good job in town and be able to raise their family in town, instead of the grand parents leaving town to see the grand kids.

Remember this is only the start, The employment will likely rise quietly, and before you know it, It will have two or three hundred direct employees. How is that going to impact the economy of this city.

I'm sure a lot of the nay sayers are not happy, but I am pleased to see that the big corporations have chosen Prince George. It is about time we got some positive news.

what does this positive news do to the average working person, it helps them with employment security. Positive news adds sustenance to the optimism we have been enjoying for the past couple of years.

Posted by: kagee on May 17 2007 1:35 PM

The "nay sayers" are not against progress and good employment, they are against the choice of 1st Avenue area for the CN terminal. If, as they say this is just the beginning, than it should be buildt where it has room to grow without negativly impacting with noise, pollution and the taxes for road infrastructure.

Posted by: Runner46 on May 17 2007 1:53 PM

How about the property that CN has applied to change the zoning of some of its lands from ALR to industrial.....I think that was about a month ago.

"Head in sand mean mind in dark"

Posted by: Palopu on May 17 2007 8:12 PM

I have no problem with being upbeat about the 50 jobs that will be created. (Even though it will take a few years to get to that number), the problem I have is that people on this site, and in this town refuse to see the other side of the equation which is.

The tonnage that will go to Prince Rupert via Container, is presently going to Vancouver via Rail Cars and Trucks. At the end of the day you will (or could) see a significant decrease in the number of trucks that go to Vancouver loaded, and a large number of truckers will be out of work. In addition this will have an impact on Truck Sales, Tire Sales, Parts, Service, Gas Sales, etc; There will be some (maybe a significant) reduction in the amount of switching that will be done at the pulp mills, and sawmills, as this tonnage would (could) conceivably be loaded at the plants where it is produced.

What this means at the end of the day is Yes there will be an increase of jobs at the CN Container facility, however there will also be a decrease in jobs in other areas as a result.

Will we lose 50 jobs or more. I suggest that we will, and we will also lose a lot of business that is created by a trucking industry, and rail switching jobs. In addition the cost of goods in our local stores will rise significantly because those truckers who are left will not have loads to take back to Vancouver, and therefore the cost of inbound commodities will rise.

CN Rail will pick up the business that the Trucking Industry presently handles to Vancouver, so they will get an increase in revenue. (The Elevator) The trucking industry will lose the traffic to Vancouver and some will go broke. (The Shaft)

Have a nice day.

Posted by: lmorg on May 18 2007 7:03 AM

I sure would hate to have to live in the downtown core once this container facility gets going. Could be the city sees this as happening also since so many new subdivision developments are opening up west of the city centre.

And these 50 jobs: are these 50 brand new jobs or will existing employees just be shifted to new positions? And if the workers of CN have a decent union, don't any senior personell in other areas or recently "workforce adjusted" personell have first dibs on these positions??

None the less, CN is only concerned about its bottom line and couldn't give a rat's patooty about PG's economic health.