New intermodal ramp at Joliet, Illinois
CN announced a plan to construct an intermodal ramp at its freight yard in Joliet, Illinois, to offer import/export customers key access to numerous Chicagoland distribution centers.
Jean-Jacques Ruest, CN Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer, said: “The Joliet-Will County area of greater Chicago has one of the highest concentrations of distribution centers in the United States. With a new intermodal ramp for container traffic at our Joliet Yard, CN will offer importers and exporters improved access to this vital trade hub with the fastest combined ocean and rail transit times from and to Asia via the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert, B.C.
“CN expects to offer daily West Coast service starting in June 2013, with transit times of approximately 100 hours between the West Coast and Joliet.” The full-service intermodal ramp will accommodate the transfer of containers between rail and truck. A grain transloading facility will also operate at the site export opportunities to support.
New intermodal terminal in Indianapolis, Indiana
CN and Indiana Rail Road Company (INRD) announced they have commenced construction of an intermodal terminal in Indianapolis to offer Indiana importers and exporters an all-rail option for containerized products moving to/from Asia. Indiana Rail Road Company is a privately-held, 500-mile railroad based in Indianapolis, which hauls the equivalent of more than 800,000 truckloads of consumer, industrial and energy products each year.
Ruest said that “CN is pleased to enter into this all-rail service partnership with the INRD, which will reduce transit times and improve transportation consistency for Indiana importers, making their supply chains more competitive. “This is a great day for Indianapolis-area importers and exporters who for years have asked for all-rail, West Coast intermodal service to the city,” said Tom Hoback, INRD founder, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Anyone who drives Interstate 65 between Indianapolis and Chicago knows what a bottleneck it is. CN-INRD intermodal service will offer a more reliable, consistent and environmentally-friendly movement of goods that is less susceptible to costly weather and congestion delays.”
The new Indianapolis terminal will be located at INRD’s existing Senate Avenue Terminal, strategically located in downtown Indianapolis, less than a mile from Lucas Oil Stadium. It will be complemented by a container yard and will start receiving empty containers June 15, 2013; an on-site agricultural products containerized export loading facility will be in service about the same time. The first import train will arrive in late June.
CN estimates containerized import goods will flow in as little as 18-20 days from port loading in Shanghai and Qingdao, China, and Busan, Korea, to the INRD Senate Avenue Terminal, when using first port of call service.
New intermodal terminal in Calgary
CN also opened a new $200-million intermodal terminal at the 680-acre Calgary Logistics Park located in Conrich, Alberta between the ports of Prince Rupert and Vancouver and major cities across Canada and mid-America. The park’s intermodal terminal, along with very competitive ocean and rail transportation times, will provide Alberta businesses ample capacity for consumer goods and industrial materials and effective export routes for forest products, plastics and agri-products.”
The new facility, with ready access to Stoney Trail, the Trans Canada Highway and other major roadways, is situated 10 kilometres from Calgary International Airport. Relocated from CN’s Sarcee Yard in Southeast Calgary, the new intermodal terminal has 30 per cent more capacity than CN’s existing Calgary intermodal terminal and space for further expansion. Four automated in-gates and three automated out-gates keep truck turnaround times in the terminal to below 45 minutes. In addition, the terminal hosts specialized equipment for temperature-controlled products, allowing CN to expand its existing reefer volumes.
The logistics park has space to accommodate more than 2.5 million square feet of warehouse distribution facilities, including a rail-to-truck transload operation and a new CN Autoport facility to serve the regional finished vehicles market.