CN Decision Couldn’t Have Come at Worse Time For Port

(Tom Peters—Chronicle Herald)

CN has announced it will reduce the number of trains serving the Port of Halifax from two to one, citing the decline in container cargo as the main reason.

The two trains were each running at less than 50 per cent capacity, so they will be combined. There will be one train with the same number of cars and with capacity for additional volume, according to CN spokeswoman Julie Senecal.

She says merging the two trains will have minimal impact on shipping times to Montreal, Toronto and Chicago. CN will discuss the move with its customers “in order to accommodate their specific needs, but CN sees no impact on import or export traffic over Halifax as a result of this change,” she said.

Calvin Whidden, general manager at Cerescorp, operator of the Fairview Cove terminal, is pretty much on track with CN’s thinking.

“My feeling is, with the volumes going through the terminals today, one train can handle them, but I can’t say if the shippers or lines have a concern,” he said.

CN’s decision couldn’t have come at a worse time for the port.

The reasoning behind the decision is understandable. But what kind of a message does this send to port customers and potential customers, both shipping lines and cargo owners? CN claims to be a strong partner of the port and says it is working hard with the port and others to develop more business. In that context, it is difficult to understand the cut.

And no matter how one tries to disguise it or talk around it, Halifax is a one-rail-line port. It’s a known fact in the global shipping industry and it has had an influence on decisions by shipping lines whether to include Halifax as a port of call. Whether having more than one rail line actually results in lower rates for shippers, only the shippers would know. But there is the perception two or more rail lines are better than one.

That is not in Halifax’s future.

In the meantime, Mr. Whidden is optimistic things will work out under the new CN schedule.

“I truly believe customers can be served by one train a day, providing CN ramps up when the business gets bigger, and we hope that is soon. But two half-trains equal one full train, and I’m hoping that’s as simple as it is,” he says. Read the complete article.