(The following article by Lisa Schmidt was posted on the Calgary Herald website on April 20.)
CALGARY — The head of Canadian Pacific Railway said Tuesday that an unexpected surge of imports from and exports to China is straining on West Coast ports and rail lines.
Speaking at the railway’s annual general meeting in Calgary, Ritchie said CPR wants to ensure the increase is more than just a blip in shipping patters before it commits to any major investment in infrastructure to increase capacity.
“We need to assure ourselves of the long-term sustainability of the demand – is it a bubble or not? – and we neeed to know before we commit heavily to major infrastructure investment,” Ritchie said in his speech.
Canada’s second-largest railway said no one predicted the growth – a double-digit increase over the past year – in the Chinese market for bulk exports and container imports, made up of mostly retail goods, from the country.
The surge in trade also comes as West Coast ports grapple with a string of labour disruptions that have slowed traffic, including a strike by tug and barge workers that started Friday.