B.C. Rail drops intermodal service
VANCOUVER, B.C. — An overhaul of B.C. Rail will likely mean the end of its intermodal service, something the B.C. Trucking Association has lobbied for over some time.
The Crown railway is Canada’s third largest, operating 2,300 kilometres of mainline track. But the B.C. Liberals have been examining its operations (as is the case with all provincial corporations) to see where some fat can be trimmed.
In this case, it appears intermodal operations will be the first to go.
Alan Dever, B.C. Rail’s vice-president of communications admits, “We have to make the place viable. We cannot increase our public debt.”
A Dec. 13 decision to terminate the intermodal service will take affect Feb. 1, meaning the province’s trucking industry could get a boost.
Bob Sharpe, chair for the Council of B.C. Rail’s trade unions tells local media that, “We will be out of the intermodal business completely. There will be no more trailers. It will all go back onto the highway.”
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