Freight News:
Port of Prince Rupert strives to increase transloading capacity
The port authority at Prince Rupert is beginning construction on a large-scale logistics facility that could expand the Canadian port’s capacity to handle rail-to-container transloading.
The Ridley Island Export Logistics Project (RIELP) seeks to develop 400,000 twenty-foot equivalent units in transloading service capacity for agricultural, forestry and plastic resin products. The project will also involve expanding the existing Ridley Island Road Rail Utility Corridor so that it will be capable of handling 10,000-foot-long trains while also having direct access to Canadian railway CN (NYSE: CNI). The facility will also have access to the Fairview Container Terminal and the Fairview-Ridley Connector Corridor.
The facility, which will be built on a 108-acre greenfield development on Ridley Island, is slated to begin operations in the third quarter of 2026. The project will include the full electrification of transload facilities and result in the minimization of truck drayage and optimization of rail — all of which will contribute to broader efforts to decarbonize Canada’s export supply chains, the Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA) said.
Anticipated project funding is approximately CA$750 million (US$540 million) from sources including the PRPA, Ray-Mont Logistics, CN, the Canadian government and the government of British Columbia. Funding of $64.8 million will come from Canada’s National Transportation Corridor Fund, while the province’s Stronger BC program will provide $5 million.
An existing multiproduct transload facility operated at a temporary location on Ridley Island has proven the concept for export transloading, the port authority said last Thursday.
“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. It also demonstrates the strong alignment of our corporate, government and community partners with PRPA’s strategic vision for growing Canadian trade,” Prince Rupert President and CEO Shaun Stevenson said in a news release.
Rob Fleming, British Columbia’s minister of transportation and infrastructure, said, “This investment by the PRPA to future-ready the port is great news for the workers, businesses and communities across the province that depend on strong trade and the reliable movement of goods. With global market dynamics continuing to create challenges for supply chains, forward-thinking projects like this one are helping to make BC’s transportation and logistics network more efficient and more resilient.”
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Editor: Joanna Marsh