PRINCE RUPERT, British Columbia — The Prince Rupert Port Authority has begun construction on the Ridley Island Export Logistics Project, a 108-acre facility that will transload carload commodities into international containers at the Port of Prince Rupert.
The $750 million project, set to open in the third quarter of 2026, will be able to handle 400,000 TEU, or 20-foot equivalent units, the common measure of international containers, per year, port officials announced Thursday.
The port is solely served by Canadian National. “CN is pleased to be a part of this project. It builds on the growth potential we see in the Port of Prince Rupert and opens up another export supply chain for our North American network,” Chief Marketing Officer Doug MacDonald said in a statement.
Ray-Mont Logistics will develop and operate facilities that provide transloading service for agricultural, forestry, and plastic resin products. Ray-Mont currently operates a transload facility on a temporary Ridley Island location that has proven the export transload concept at Prince Rupert.
The project will also include an expansion of the existing Ridley Island Road Rail Utility Corridor that will be able to handle 10,000-foot unit trains. The transload facilities will be connected to Fairview Container Terminal by direct private road access, the 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) Fairview-Ridley Connector Corridor.
Port officials said the transload project will provide new capacities for Canadian exporters to Asia Pacific markets. The project’s scale, unit-train capabilities, access to available empty containers, and proximity and integration into container terminal operations all promise to deliver significant new service offerings to exporters as well as improve the quality, cost, and reliability of container supply chains, port officials said.
The project is being funded by the port authority, Ray-Mont Logistics, CN, and the provincial and federal governments.
“The development of this innovative project and its introduction of large-scale export logistics capabilities at the Port will fundamentally improve competitiveness for Canadian exporters, and marks the opening of a new chapter of Prince Rupert intermodal growth,” said port authority CEO Shaun Stevenson.
Good for Canada.
But wondering when someone is going to requite that if a port or some other governmental facility receives Federal Canadian Dollars that BOTH railroads will have to share the benefits (AKA CPKC receiving trackage rights in this case).
The ruling grade is 0.6%. After CN gets it rolling it is significantly less power to weight requirement. Where in Long Beach as I understand it 6 units are required. In Prince Rupert it is 2. Cost benefit analysis favors Prince Rupert.
Good-bye Commie-fornia ports. Good luck with your electric trucks.