June 27, 2010

Customer Bulletin: Southern Route Between Swift Current and Lethbridge Open

The southern route between Swift Current and Lethbridge reopened early this morning. Traffic is now moving between Swift Current and Calgary via CP's Taber, Aldersyde and MacLeod subdivisions. 

The southern mainline work between Swift Current, Dunmore, Medicine Hat, and Calgary has progressed very well and line clear restoration is now expected for Tuesday morning. 

We will continue to secure all available detour routing from other railways until all backlog is handled and CP returns to a fluid state as soon as possible.

CP will continue to accept perishable containers originating at Vaughan or Lachine destined to Edmonton, Saskatoon and Winnipeg terminals, which continued to move throughout the outage. In addition, as of tomorrow, June 28th, we will accept all marine and domestic intermodal containers conveying perishable traffic.

The Customer Service Team is solidifying specific shipment plans.  Shipments will continue to see some delays as ques await available detours and reroutes, however, the addition of the south route has helped us begin to reduce the backlog of traffic.

June 26, 2010

Customer Bulletin: Southern Route Between Swift Current and Lethbridge To Reopen Tonight

The southern route between Swift Current and Lethbridge will reopen tonight at midnight. The southern mainline between Swift Current, Dunmore, Medicine Hat, and Calgary will open as expected Tuesday night.

We will continue to secure all available detour routing from other railways until all backlog is handled and CP returns to a fluid state as soon as possible.

CP will continue to accept perishable containers originating at Vaughan or Lachine destined to Edmonton, Saskatoon and Winnipeg terminals, which continued to move throughout the outage. In addition, as of Monday, June 28, we will accept all marine and domestic intermodal containers conveying perishable.

June 25, 2010

Customer Bulletin: Southern Route Line Reopening Confirmed for Saturday Night

Today's engineering assessments of the line restoration work completed in the last 24 hours confirms our southern route between Swift Current and Lethbridge will reopen as expected tomorrow night. The southern mainline between Swift Current, Dunmore, Medicine Hat, and Calgary is still expected to reopen Tuesday night.

Following the re-opening of both the most southern route and the southern mainline, we will continue to secure all available detour routing from other railways to ensure any backlog is quickly handled and CP returns to a fluid state as early as possible.

CP will continue to accept domestic intermodal perishable traffic in containers originating at Vaughan or Lachine destined to Edmonton, Saskatoon and Winnipeg terminals, which continued to move throughout the outage. As of Monday, June 28, we will accept all marine and domestic intermodal containers conveying perishable traffic.

June 25, 2010

Customer Bulletin: Perishable Domestic Intermodal Traffic Moving Within Canada - Restrictions Lifted Effective June 28, 2010

The pace of restoration of the southern mainline affected by washouts has accelerated over the past 24 hours.  Given the expected line clear of Saturday for our southern-most route, we are prepared to start to accepting domestic intermodal containers conveying perishable traffic effective Monday, June 28, 2010.  This does not impact those perishable containers originating at Vaughan or Lachine destined Edmonton, Saskatoon and Winnipeg terminals which continued to move throughout the outages.

Customers with perishable shipments will be contacted to work through the ramping up of this traffic.

June 22, 2010

Customer Bulletin: High Water in Southern Alberta and Saskatchewan

In the past 24 hours, we made good progress towards restoring the southern mainline affected by washouts from the severe flooding in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan.  Engineering crews continue 24-7 work to return the line to service as soon and as safely as possible.

With the benefit of receding water, engineering assessments of the time required for line restoration are now being updated.  Barring any further weather issues, we expect our most southern route between Dunmore, Lethbridge, and Calgary, AB to open this weekend.   This will allow us to move current traffic and begin to work off the backlog.

Further, the southern mainline between Swift Current, Dunmore, Medicine Hat, and Calgary is expected to open next week.

Following the re-opening of the most southern route and the southern mainline, we will continue to secure all available detour routing for our trains from other railways as well as continue to reroute shipments on our northern route.   

The current forecast in the area is for clearing weather and higher temperatures over the coming days.

We have been moving customer freight directly impacted by the outage and will continue efforts to address those shipments.

Line restoration timing will be confirmed to you as engineering crews continue assessment and complete work.

Customer Bulletin:  High Water in Southern Alberta and Saskatchewan
June 21, 2010

Due to the once in 100 year rainfall, high waters and adverse weather conditions that continue to impact multiple segments of Canadian Pacific's rail line between Medicine Hat and Swift Current,  CP train operations in this area remain suspended.  A comprehensive plan is being executed, with trains being detoured over other railways and via our northern route.  With the redistribution of crews, we are optimizing any available reroute and detour options to maximize throughput.
Progress has been made in restoring some of the affected areas engineering and crews continue to repair the right of way.  The Trans Canada Highway east of Medicine Hat remains closed.

We continue to monitor the weather in all affected areas and will be sending further updates daily as the contingency plans and line restoration timing are updated.

June 21, 2010

Customer Bulletin: Perishable Domestic Container Traffic Moving Within Canada
Due to the once in 100 year rainfall, high waters and adverse weather conditions that continue to impact multiple segments of Canadian Pacific's rail line between Medicine Hat and Swift Current, CP train operations in this area remain suspended. While crews work to restore service in the affected areas and detour and reroute options are being implemented, CP will not move domestic intermodal containers conveying perishable traffic arriving in our terminals after cut-off on Monday, June 21, 2010 with the exception of traffic originating at Vaughan or Lachine destined Edmonton, Saskatoon and Winnipeg terminals. Perishable units that arrive after cutoff on this date and prior to June 23, 2010 will be held at the origin terminal.
Effective Wednesday, June 23, 2010, CP will not accept private perishable containers at the gate, with the above-noted corridor exceptions. CP-owned perishable units in-gated after cut-off on Monday, June 21, 2010 will be held at the origin terminal for monitoring.

TransCanada Highway Closed

Serious flooding in southwest Saskatchewan has washed out a portion of the TransCanada Highway between Maple Creek, Sask., and the Alberta Border.  A lengthy detour is in place – 150 kms – but this will contribute to disruptions, particularly in LCV capability.  The TransCanada Highway will be shut down for at least 48 hours or more, depending on engineering damage assessments.

Rail delays are expected to be anywhere from 3 to 5 days

Further information is available at www.highways.gov.sk.ca.

June 20, 2010
                    
      Customer Bulletin: High Water in Southern Alberta and Saskatchewan
                    
   A once in 100-year rainfall event has caused flooding and widespread damage in southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan. This has caused the closure of the Trans Canada Highway east of Medicine Hat and local states of emergency have been declared in nine municipal jurisdictions. Red Cross evacuations have taken place in four communities.
     
      High water has also affected CP's right of way on the Maple Creek Subdivision between Medicine Hat. AB, and Swift Current, SK. Our southern mainline is closed, but we have remained operational by rerouting traffic over other available rail lines. We are now repairing our right of way as the water recedes but expect the line to be out a minimum of three more days.
     
      We are deploying over 60 management and unionized train crew employees and other resources to facilitate movement of traffic on other routes. This is allowing us to reroute traffic to the greatest extent possible over our northern route and via other railways. With the restoration today of our Montana Subdivision between Lethbridge and Coutts/Sweetgrass after last week's washout, we are now also able to use this line for both normal traffic and as an alternate route.
     
      Our engineering crews are employing significant resources to restore our route as soon as safely possible, and our operations team is working to move all traffic by continuing to expand our capability to move additional traffic on alternate routes.
     
      We continue to monitor the weather in all affected areas and will be sending further updates daily as the contingency plans are updated.

January 7, 2010

Customer Bulletin:  Operating Conditions Related to Extreme Weather

The railway continues to experience challenges related to extreme weather conditions in the U.S. Midwest and Saskatchewan. 

In the U.S. Midwest, temperatures have dropped as low as -35 degrees with severe weather warnings in effect. Blowing snow has caused several road closures in the area, making it extremely difficult to get crews to trains.  Some shipments may experience delays of up 48 hours.

In addition to the impacts of the U.S. Midwest weather, shipments in the Canadian Prairies may experience similar delays due to congestion and weather-related challenges. 

Weather is expected to moderate through the weekend and we anticipate a return to normal operations over the next week.  To assist in moving your shipments efficiently, customers are requested to ensure trackage
and switches are clear.   

February 6, 2009

CP has informed us that the Line near Kenora Ontario has now been cleared. According to CP this was a major derailment and the after effects will be felt for at least the next 10 to 14 days. All trains running in both directions (East/West) are currently running 48 to 72 hours behind schedule and rail service is expected to remain behind schedule for at least the next 10 days.

For further information please contact your M-O customer care representative.

February 3, 2009

Customer Bulletin: Update, Mainline Derailment - Northern Ontario

As reported yesterday, a derailment occurred near Kenora, Ontario on our transcontinental mainline between Thunder Bay, Ontario and Winnipeg, Manitoba.
We estimate at this time that line restoration will occur tomorrow, February 4th.    We are actively utilizing detours and rerouting trains to assist in managing delays.  Shipment delays of 24-48 hours should be expected after line clear, while we work to clear traffic through the area.
There are no major delays elsewhere on the CP network.

February 2, 2009

Customer Bulletin: Mainline Derailment - Northern Ontario

A derailment has occurred near Kenora, Ontario on our transcontinental mainline between Thunder Bay, Ontario and Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The estimated time for line restoration is unknown at this time. We are investigating all available detour and reroute opportunities.  Further updates will be provided once more information is available.
There are no major delays elsewhere on the CP network.

Tuesday Janauary 27, 2009

There is currently a delay in Marine Atlantic. They are in a load and go basis and we should expect up to 48 hours delay.

Monday Janauary 5, 2009

CN informed us on Friday afternoon January 02, 2009 at 4:44 PM of the following two incidents:

- Train M30831-31 derailed along the Drummondville subdivision of the CN main line near Villeroy, PQ. The incident, which occurred on Wednesday, December 31st, at 2315hrs EST affected trains running between Eastern Canada and Toronto.

- The site was cleared by 0330hrs EST on Friday, January 02nd. Customers should expect that traffic due to move through the affected area will incur some delays during the return to normal operations.

- In addition, some delays persist in Vancouver and the southern British Columbia mainland as a result of recent poor weather conditions, however operations continue without interruption.

For further information please contact M-O FreightWORKS Customer Care Representative.

Monday December 15, 2008

Dear Valued Customer,

Due to extreme cold weather along CN and CP Rail Western Canadian network, operating delays of up to 24 hours can be expected.  This severe cold weather is forecasted to continue until later this week.

We appreciate that this time of year is your busiest shipping season and would ask that you  please contact your business unit representative for more specific details regarding any delays to individual unit transit times:

  We will continue to expedite movement of equipment across our system throughout  this extreme cold weather period.

Thank you for your continued business,

M-O FreightWORKS