CN, CP execs expect outages from B.C. floods to last several days
BNN Bloomberg
Floods in British Columbia over the weekend are wreaking havoc on Canada's two major railways whose service to Western Canada is temporarily suspended due to washouts along their main rail lines.
Floods in British Columbia over the weekend are wreaking havoc on Canada's two major railways whose service to Western Canada is temporarily suspended due to washouts along their main rail lines.
Both Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. said their rail network in the B.C. interior has been out of service since Sunday following heavy downpours and mudslides.
Executives from both companies told an investor conference hosted by the Bank of Nova Scotia on Tuesday that rail engineers are "battling" trying to get their rail network operational again.
"We're still sort of uncovering what it all means, but certainly that's our busiest corridor out in that region," said CP Rail Chief Marketing Officer John Brooks. "Time will tell but they're battling trying to get our main line back opened up."
Brooks added that service outage is hurting all of its commodity shipments and specifically pointed to how its grain shipments - already under pressure this year following drought conditions - will be impacted by the rail washout.
He noted that some of its shipping lines, specifically potash, have been diverted to other western ports that haven't been affected by the floods. A CP Rail spokesperson said the outage is located north of Hope, B.C., about 120 kilometres east of Vancouver.
