fogg1703 wrote:Not to nitpick, but for the sake of accuracy the port of Saint John New Brunswick is the discussion point, not the Port of St John which is in Newfoundland.
CN9634 wrote:With the quickest direct route and good rates (key there), a CP-CMQ-NBSR routing may be the preferred choice over the all CN routing to markets in Toronto perhaps a bit beyond.
I hope your right about CP rates as I would love to see full DS run on the Moosehead, however CN has a leg up already with excess capacity out of Saint John for intermodal and bulk as well as an established intermodal equipment supply based out of Moncton and Halifax that could easily be shifted south to Saint John to serve any potential new growth. CN's Tropical service has been rock steady in Saint John for years and is more than equipped for an upscale. CP (CMQ+NBM) has to reopen the lane from scratch including providing equipment and getting US Customs on board for faster transit times. CP offers a lot more East Coast opportunities while CN has the market on more Midwest opportunities.
Im wondering how CSX falls into this. Would they be content with offering rates through Barbers or would they think outside the box and utilize their Valleyfield QC intermodal terminal in conjunction with a CP or CN routing?
Sadly I see PAR getting cut out of the deal as DS direct out of Saint John via NBM-CMQ-CP-CSX or NS lands you in New York/PA in a more predictable time than it would be to travel the length of PAR and then be handed off to a Class I in MA.
Thanks for the clarification, the locals also hate the spelling "St. John" when it is always written out Saint John.
Not sure what you mean about capacity and equipment? The port has the chassis, lift equipment, hostlers, ect. Only equipment the RR has to provide are the well cars. Also NAFTA 2.0 solved the customs issue (which I asked customs officials and experienced freight forwarders a pointed question about this type of situation in 2012) with a streamlining of electronic submission of customs paperwork and an e-manifest. They were piloting several trains with this system back then running from Prince Rupert into the US or via the US to points in Canada. It's now a moot point and intermodal trains cross in and out of the US across the country all the time now.
The Tropical service on CN definitely works but the traffic is a drop in the bucket. The only reason it works really is because 407 shuttles the cars to Moncton where it is joined with existing intermodal job 120/121.
No way you'd see an NBM-CMQ-CP-CSX routing... too many hands in the pot. Remember, intermodal is really low revenue and works only with high volume (60+ loaded containers usually going more than 600 miles). You are looking for trainloads not carloads, I think you are still thinking about this under the manifest operations pretenses. Any connection to CSX or NS will go NBM-PAR surely unless Pan Am has really large service issues... which of course isn't at all unheard of.