MONTREAL, (May 25, 2005) — Canadian Pacific Railway’s Lachine terminal in Montreal will be open 24-hours on weekdays, starting June 6. The move will allow truckers a wider delivery window as well as more efficient access to the intermodal rail yard.

The more flexible schedule should also address the surge of truck traffic early in the week, which results from heavy import volumes coming in through the port of Vancouver.

Alan Parry, the general manager of Intermodal Operations at CPR, says the extended hours initiative was created after joint consultations with representatives from the Québec Trucking Association, I.E.Canada, Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association, and the shipping community.

We hope that not only the carriers but also their importer and exporter customers will benefit from the new arrangement. This joint effort of our organizations is an example of CPR’s desire to improve business customer service in the Montréal area,” said Québec Trucking Association President and CEO Marc Cadieux.

CIFFA Vice-President Marc Bibeau adds, ” It is now time for all parties in the industry to take advantage of the extended hours CPR Lachine now offers. We must change the way we do business if we want to avoid potential gridlock and lengthy delays at the rail yards. This is a positive start in expediting container movements.”

While those involved agreed that this is an important step in addressing the increasing import volumes, it is also recognized that more work is required to enable the terminal to add weekend operating hours as a means of increasing the productivity of everyone in the logistics chain, they say.