GCT Canada, the operator of the country's flagship container terminal located in Port Metro Vancouver, announced today that the company has broken ground on its GCT Deltaport Intermodal Yard Reconfiguration Project. As the leading provider of customer-focused service in North America, this expansion provides critical private sector investment. This project ensures projected carrier rail demand is met for the Canadian and US markets, without any impact to local road traffic.
As Canada's primary Pacific Gateway, GCT is taking a leadership role to deliver capacity growth on North America's West Coast. The densification project will ensure GCT Deltaport is best equipped to handle increased volumes from the largest transpacific mega vessels calling the facility. As the premier ship-to-rail terminal on the continent, rail handling capacity will increase by more than 50%, providing customers added certainty on transit and dwell times.  As a credit to the collaborative relationship with its railway partners CN and CP, GCT Canada's US import rail volumes grew by 35% per annum from 2009-14. JJ Ruest, Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer of CN, welcomed the announcement: "Our carrier customers and beneficial cargo owners were early adopters of the strong connectivity we provide through GCT Deltaport. Together, this project demonstrates the facility has the fluidity to expedite our customers' cargo while giving them room to grow." "GCT Canada's rail expansion provides Vancouver an even more competitive rail product, assuring our customers that their cargo will reliably get to market on time," said Keith Creel, CP's President and Chief Operating Officer. "Working with our valued partners, we will continue to drive velocity and meet the demands of our growing markets." "This expansion provides our customers the confidence to bring their largest ship discharges to GCT Deltaport with the knowledge that the added rail capacity will expedite import container connections through CN and CP's networks," noted Stephen Edwards, President & CEO of GCT Global Container Terminals Inc. "We are particularly pleased to not only increase our capacity, but that we are doing so with an improved environmental impact on our existing footprint."