CONTRECOEUR, Quebec — The Canadian government will spend up to C$150 million toward construction ofa new rail-served container terminal at the Port of Montreal, Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez announced on Tuesday.
The project will include a 675-meter-long dock; a rail connection to existing Canadian National tracks, including a rail transfer point and freight transfer hub; road access; a container handling yard; and associated buildings. The project will increase the port’s total capacity by 55% and is projected to generate up to $140 million annually in increased imports and exports.
The Montreal Port Authority says the Contrecourt project, when complete, will have a capacity of 1.15 million TEUs (20-foot Equivalent Units, the standard measure of container capacity). The authority anticipates issuing a Request for Proposals in early 2024 to choose a builder for the terminal, while the authority itself will carry out the dock construction and dredging work.
“By supporting the Port in its expansion project in Contrecoeur, we continue our efforts to strengthen Canada’s supply chain,” Rodriguez said in a press release. “This is important so that we never again have to go through product shortages like we experienced during the pandemic, or the significant price increases that came along with them.”
Contrecoeur is about 70 kilometers (43 miles) north of Montreal. Money for the project will come from the National Trade Corridors Fund.
Maybe the CP regrets giving up the North Shore line. No, not Electroliners, but the CP route from Quebec City/Ste. Foy to Montreal. VIA was running that route with RDC’s in 1981 so I got Ste. Foy to Windsor Station having done Montreal Central to Ste. Foy (CN-GTR route) in the morning with midday walking all over the Quebec Bridge. Ant Rule applies. But the CP was on the other side of the river from the proposed terminal on CN. So CP might have to build its own terminal–or take out an insurance policy on Quebecois Independence by putting its money on Saint John and the Maritimes. The St. Lawrence DOES get ice-bound in wintertime and can be treacherous as in the Empress of Ireland.
Right now, both CN and CP can access all four existing terminals (Racine, Maisonneuve, Termont, Cast), via a connexion with the port of Montreal railway.
The proposed terminal is located on CN’s Sorel sub., and would therefore not be accessible by CP, unless TC forces CN and CP to agree on a trackage rights scheme, which seems unlikely, but not outright impossible.
This story could prove interesting.