Canadian Pacific Sets Grain Transportation Record

North American railway operator Canadian Pacific (CP) has transported 22.5 million mt of Canadian grain and grain products from last August to the end of May 2019, setting a new record for the largest amount of Canadian grain moved by the company in a single crop year, the firm announced in a release Wednesday.  

“Since August of last year, we have moved approximately 500,000 mt more grain than ever before, bettering our record at this time in the 2015-2016 crop year,” Joan Hardy, vice president sales and marketing, Grain and Fertilizers at CP, said in a statement. “We continue to innovate in close collaboration with our customers and supply chain enablers, and we look forward to delivering the farmers and the North American economy as we close out this crop year and prepare for the next.”

CP’s shipments to Vancouver have reached an all-time high during the period, with 15 MMT shipped to the city, a 5% increase over previous record was set during the 2016-2017 crop year. Last November, the company moved 17,150 carloads of Western Canadian grain and grain products to the Port of Vancouver, also setting a new record. 

1000 new, high-capacity hopper cars were recently placed into service by CP. By the end of 2019, over 1900 hopper cars will be in operation as part of CP’s $500 million on-going investment to acquire 5900 new hopper cars. According to the company, the cars accommodate 10% more grain than older models. 

In addition, CP will shift five CP-served rail facilities to a High Efficiency Product (HEP) train model by this fall and the company plans to convert four more rail facilities to the HEP model by early 2020. 

“By the spring of next year, 20% of CP’s unit train elevator network will be loading the highly-efficient 8500-ft HEP trains, which, coupled with the new hopper cars, can move up to 44% more grain per train,” Hardy said. “Together with our customers, we are creating capacity and driving efficiencies in the grain supply chain.”

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