CP sold off its routes east of Montreal, including what became the CM&Q and J.D. Irving short lines Eastern Maine Railway and New Brunswick Southern, as part of a retrenchment in the mid-1990s.
“The world’s changed in 25 years,” Creel said Wednesday on CP’s quarterly earnings call. “The railroad’s changed, it’s evolved.”
Creel spent time on the CM&Q recently and came away impressed with CP’s shortcut across Maine linking Montreal with Saint John, New Brunswick, via connections with the Irving short lines.
“Commercially, the customers are extremely excited to have service alternatives which they simply have not been afforded in over two decades,” Creel says. “We’ll be able to offer the shortest routes from the Maritimes to Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, and Western Canada that will be trucklike reliable and trucklike competitive on a service standpoint and obviously much more compelling on a cost standpoint.”
CP aims to provide one-day service between Saint John and Montreal and three-day service between Saint John and Chicago.
“We’re having some very encouraging discussions with customers about existing moves as well as new moves to the rail industry,” Creel says.
Even though the geographic advantage was there with CM&Q, and predecessors Montreal Maine & Atlantic and Iron Roads Railways, service was not an advantage because moves to and from Saint John involved three railroads.
CP will move traffic between the end of CM&Q rails at Brownville Junction, Maine, and Saint John via a haulage agreement with New Brunswick Southern and its sister line, the Eastern Maine Railway.
To CP’s customers, the experience will look and feel like a single-line move, Creel says.
CM&Q currently handles around 24,000 carloads per year. In a regulatory filing, CP says acquiring the railroad will help traffic on the line grow 2% to 3% annually, or 4,000 or so carloads over the next three years, with potential growth of and additional 7,000 cars.
Creel says he sees growth opportunities in domestic and international intermodal, automotive, fuels, and lumber. The paper industry has declined over the years and the number of available loads in Eastern Canada is not what it once was, he noted.
“But at the same time the strategic value of that port in Saint John has not been unlocked,” Creel says.
Creel compared Saint John to Vancouver, British Columbia, which is Canada’s busiest port and is critical to CP’s success. CP has the shortest and fastest routes from Vancouver to major cities in Canada as well as to Chicago and other points in the U.S. Midwest.
CP would have the same advantages at Saint John, he says.
“Saint John could be the Vancouver in the East,” Creel says.
But there are significant differences.
The Port of Vancouver has been growing steadily as trade with Asia rises, and last year it handled nearly 3.4 million twenty-foot equivalents, or TEUs, the common measure of international containers.
The Port of Saint John handles primarily north-south trade with South America and the Caribbean, with connecting service to other ports around the globe. Saint John’s container terminal handled just 59,102 TEUs in 2018, down from 97,465 TEUs in 2015, according to the latest data available on the port’s website. A port spokeswoman did not respond to a request for more current data.
The Port of Saint John is currently undergoing a $205-million modernization and expansion that will nearly triple its container handling capacity to 320,000 TEUs by 2023. The project is funded by the port, the Canadian federal government, and the province.
The Port of Halifax, the busiest in Atlantic Canada, last year handled nearly 550,000 TEUs. Canadian National, the only railroad to serve Halifax, also serves Saint John.
CP plans track upgrades that will permit faster and more reliable service.
“The most important thing we’re working on … is investing in the physical plant to get it up to a CP standard,” Creel says.
CP will spend $75 million over the next three years to upgrade the CM&Q to FRA Class 3 track, which is good for 40 mph, up from 25 mph today. The 262.7 miles from St. Jean, Quebec, on the outskirts of Montreal, to Brownville Junction should be a 40-mph railroad by the end of 2021.
Track speed on Eastern Maine Railway and New Brunswick Southern on the 189.5 miles from Brownville Junction to Saint John is 25 mph. A CP spokesman declined to comment on whether CP would invest in track improvements that would enable higher speeds on the connecting short lines.
CP is awaiting U.S. Surface Transportation Board approval of its purchase of the Maine trackage owned by CM&Q.
We live in Jackman, Maine and have been excited over the CM&Q and also enjoy the look of their power. The moose logo really fits the area. One of our boys is learning the ins and outs of photography and producing video so he relishes the chances (rare because of much night operation) to get shots of these trains with the beautiful wilderness scenery. However, the CP purchase holds out the hope for increased traffic volume along with further renewal of this line. We can get used to seeing red. We are transplants here so never saw them the first time around but look forward to watching the railroad grow. Hopefully the goals of CP will be realized while individual and local economies benefit. Thanks for your recent coverage.
Best comments section ever.
And is it not time for Anna Harding to become a columnist for TRAINS.
UK Parliament has a bill to ban gas/diesel car manufacturing by 2035. No date on cease of operations (meaning no more gas). This would put a big dent in any Canadian petro export plans out of St John.
Yes, there is only one O in Myron Baloney. As a former Murkin and now a Canuck I can say that I do know about the Gimli Glider. And the Canuck airplane was commonly called “The aluminum crow” or “The lead sled” In Ontario it’s “Hydro.” But, for further info kindly consult Stompin’ Tom Connors- did you all know that the man in the moon is a Newfie? Sailin’ on to glory, away in his golden dory.
Good for you Mr. Landey but there were five other Catholic prime ministers: John Thompson, Louis St. Laurent, Joe Clark, Jean Chretien, and Paul Martin. And there is only one “o” in Mulroney.
As Yogi Berra would say, this is deja vu all over again. CPR built the line across Maine shortly after it completed its Montreal to Vancouver main line and operated trains over that line for about 100 years, but then sold it for some mysterious reason in the 1990s, when CP management seemed to be suffering from a death wish. I’m glad to see that they have bought it back, but it would have been smarter to keep it in the first place. The interval when CP did not own it saw the Lac Megantic disaster, one of the worst train-related accidents in Canadian history
Why your article has such as large photo of Canadian Pacific CEO? I wish this article had more further description on this topic by downsizing that exclusive photo or perhaps a photo would not be necessary.
Hider, Alaska. Accessible by road from Canada. And if you keep driving through this town, you end up back in Canada, along some spectacular glaciers.
I’ve been owned by Newfoundland dogs for the last 31 years. I’m enjoying this wonderful history lesson that all you TRAINS folks are providing!
@Jf Turcotte: 5% of oil refined in Ontario is bitumen. 7% of the oil refined in Atlantic Canada and Quebec is bitumen. Even in Alberta, only 12% of the oil refined is bitumen.
Atlantic Canada used to import most of their light oil from the US (at one time 60%) along with UK Brent and Angolan Light With UK Brent now declining in yield, there is a market reversal in the works.
Per the Canadian Government oil production report:
“In the past, Atlantic Canada and Quebec were not well connected to domestic crude oil production. Until recently, all of these Canadian refineries imported crude oil to meet their needs. With the reversal of Line 9 and more rail capacity, Quebec refineries now process some western Canadian crude oil and are less exposed to international crude oil market fluctuations.
Refineries in Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick still rely almost entirely on imports, and at times process offshore eastern Canadian production. When it is economic to do so, the Irving refinery in New Brunswick rails crude oil from western Canada and the U.S. Because the refineries in Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick import crude oil, they are more exposed to international crude oil market fluctuations.”
My point is that the Canadian Government wants to attempt to reduce the importation of oil for the Atlantic Canada refineries and shift more post refined products to the export market, specifically the UK.
The largest issue is the cost of getting the oil eastward. Some oil coming up from the US by pipeline via Sarnia can end up being cheaper than by rail from Alberta.
Canadian production of bitumen is exceeding domestic refining capacity and so the suppliers are seeking out to increase domestic refining capacity, either by export to the Petro Coast in the US, or by making it more economic to ship it by rail to more distant Canadian markets.
The shippers recently cut a large deal with both CP and CN to acquire the extra tank cars needed and signed long term contracts to get the crude “out the door”. While CN can reach the Petro Coast fairly easy, CP can’t without taking on a partner. So by owning the line to reach Atlantic Canada again, they have a new market to support.
This will make Canadian gas prices less sensitive to market swings and in a lower key way, less of a target for any future US tariffs.
Why doesn’t Canada just build more refineries? The last few interviews I read by some refining CEO’s is Canada is not very big on refinery expansions and is not business friendly market to pursue.
JOHN – Me fail. I’ll need to look at a map, eh? At least I got the right county.
John Rice, Saint John’s potential as an outlet for Alberta bitumen is as an export gateway only. (And where to?) The Irving oil refinery in Saint John cannot handle bitumen, it is geared to process light crude. So are Suncor’s Montreal East and Valero’s St-Romuald refineries (both currently receive a mix of Canadian and US light crude from Enbridge pipeline 9B).
Unfortunately for Alberta, no refinery in Eastern Canada can readily handle tar sands, unless it’s pre-processed in lighter synthetic crude. This is why the proposed Energy East pipeline makes little economic sense, and why those refineries used to receive Dakota light crude by rail in the early 2010’s.
The best outlet for the tar sands (apart from the Pacific ports) are the Gulf Coast refineries, which can already process heavy crude from Venezuela.
Now, CP may also have plan for Searsport… I’d be curious to hear more about this.
Back to trains: No hope of the “Atlantic” back, with a top speed of 40 mph; too bad.
Mr Turcotte, Refineries in near Chicago and Detroit have both added process equipment to refine Canadian bitumen. Why would eastern Canadian refineries not do the same.
YES AL I know that, it’s spelled Canuck. I just didn’t want to get caught by the forum monitor’s politically correct spell check. Who knows what’s allowed any more? Canuck can be seen by some as an ethnic slur, though it isn’t. As a corollary, years ago Jewish people called their Black neighbors and friends “shfartsas” with no malice whatsoever, but I have been told this is no longer acceptable.
Canuck is more than just the name of a hockey team. It’s also the name of the RCAF’s first jet fighter plane, from 1950. One can be seen at the National Museum of the United State Air Force outside of Dayton.
I’m quite aware that Canada is more than just Newfie jokes and trivia questions. (Slightly more, eh?) I quite miss my frequent trips to Canada – several times each year – at a time in my life when I lived a few miles to the north of the border. From my Detroit home I went by bicycle not just to Windsor but as far as Sarnia or Amherstburg.
Here’s some trivia: years ago (at least one off the them was closed) there were at least two French-language Catholic churches within bike distance from my Detroit home, one in Detroit and one outside of Windsor.
The proper spelling of “Canook” is Canuck.
John Rice said, “Name the US city that is only accessible via Canada and has absolutely no rail service at all?
Point Roberts, Washington”
Well, given that Point Roberts is NOT a city (it’s in unincorporated Whatcom County, Washington), then any community is fair game. And one that’s exponentially more isolated than Point Roberts, WA is Hyder, Alaska, with road access only from Stewart, British Columbia. And Stewart is close to….well….just about nothing.
Robert said, “Haines Alaska is also only accessible from Canada (the Yukon).” As is Skagway, but I didn’t mention either of them because they are accessible by highway from other Alaska cities – albeit a bit unconventionally via the Alaska Marine Highway (state ferry system). Hyder used to be, too. One day a week service or less, but that was dropped in the 1990s.
ANNA Here’s a hard one. “Multitap” commercial lighting fixtures can be connected at any of the following four AC voltages: 120, 240, 277 or 323 vac. Which of the four voltages is used in eastern Canada but not in USA.
Related question: In Ontario what is another word for “electricity”.
@Peter Schierloh: Name the US city that is only accessible via Canada and has absolutely no rail service at all?
Point Roberts, Washington
Actually Point Pelee is not Canada’s southernmost point. Pelee Island is a little further out in Lake Erie, accessible by ferry. Fun fact, parts of California are further north.
Geez, you people just don’t know Canada at all. Here are answers to my trivia questions ….
To wit:
Eastern Canada uses “hydro” at commercial voltage of 600Y/323 vac. Western Canada and USA use 480Y/277 vac.
A #6 Robbie is the same as an American #1 square drive screw driver. Decades ago Canada used Robertson screw drivers – square drive – not Phillips, before increasing trade between the two nations made screwdrivers of both formats used in both countries.
“The Maple Leaf Forever” is a great song and would have been a fine national anthem if Canada were 100% English. The original lyrics – no longer sung – celebrated the English conquest of French Canada. Also, “Toujours la feuille d’erable” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. Therefore the French song “Oh Canada, tierre de nos aieux” was chosen as the national anthem.
Canada’s southernmost point is Point Pelee in Essex County, Ontario. Deep into Lake Erie, it’s well south of Detroit and close to lake islands belonging to Ohio.
The late John Turner was one among Roman Catholic PM’s. (A list including Brian Mulrooney, Justin Trudeau pere et fils, and Wilfrid Laurier.) Feminists wearing “bum wraps” protested his alleged habit of touching women in the bum.
When Air Canada bought the earliest models of the Boeing 767 in the early 1980’s, the airline switched to metric. For a cross-country flight a quantity of kilos of fuel were ordered. They got that many pounds. No one was watching the gas gauge when the flight ran out of fuel over northern Manitoba. The first officer had flown for the Forces and knew of an abandoned RCAF base. He didn’t know the runway was being used for a drag race but at that point he’d run out of options. The plane glided in without further incident.
Saskatchewan’s Roberta Joan Anderson married Michigan native Chuck Mitchell, a little known folk singer. Living in Detroit she got her start as the folk superstar Joni Mitchell. The rest is history including soon divorcing Chuck who last I heard is still living in Michigan..
During World War II Canada had conscription but only volunteers or conscripts who so chose could be deployed outside of the country. Future PM Yves Pierre Trudeau from Montreal was a conscript who declined deployment.
When Waterloo Lutheran University went under, a new nonsectarian university was established using the same campus. Searching for a name, someone decided to use the same initials – WLU – and thus the name Wilfrid Laurier.
So there. For an American I know my way around Canada pretty well. Full disclosure we’ve not been there since a brief trip to Toronto in 2013.
PS Back to “trains”, VIA Rail Canada is pathetic.
Haines Alaska is also only accessible from Canada (the Yukon).
@Mark Meyer: Touche! I thought about Hyder, Alaska and you are correct. Accessible only from Canada.
Ms. Harding
From my limited reading of Farley Mowat, I second your recommendation. I especially liked “Grey Seas Under.”