BC Flood Update: Railroads opening mid-week and highways still closed

coracle News

You’re probably seen the photos from the flooding in British Columbia. Between Nov 13-15th, up to 200 millimeters of rain came down on in some areas. On November 17th, a provincial state of emergency was declared and remains in place. Highways, roads, and railway tracks were damaged in the flooding, as seen in the photos we’re included in this post, shared by the BC Ministry of Transportation & Infrastructure. 

Here is an update on the progress of repairs:

Rail Operations
CN and CP crews are making significant progress cleaning debris and repairing damaged rail infrastructure between Kamloops and Vancouver. CP expects that it will have its mainline operational by late Tuesday, Nov 23, and CN anticipates to open their mainline on Wed, Nov 24. Rail service on the restored lines will resume when it is safe.

Truck Operations
On Friday, there was one highway route (Highway 3) re-opened that connected Metro Vancouver and the B.C. Interior. But this afternoon, a washout between Hope and Princeton forced the highway closed, showing how precarious the situation still is. Crews continue working on Highways 1 and 5, with no estimated time of opening available. Highway 99 is the only route that connects Vancouver and Kamloops, but it is restricted to vehicles under a gross weight of14,500 kgs.

Port Operations
All 4 ports at the Port of Vancouver are operational, but anchorage demand remains high. Trucks are able to access all four container terminals normally.

Air Cargo
Some of our clients transporting urgent cargo by air, through CargoJet, Air Canada, or Westjet. Contact us if you have a shipment that needs to be sent by air.  

We’ll continue to post updates on Twitter and LinkedIn, and send any major changes by email.

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Sources:
1. Email – Port of Vancouver Operations Update – November 22, 2021 – Update #5, Port of Vancouver, Nov 22, 2021. Accessed Nov 22, 2021.
2. BC road report: Which highways are open now, and what is essential travel?, CTV News, Nov 22, 2021. Accessed Nov 22, 2021.
3. Canadian Pacific to reopen B.C. rail corridor Tuesday; important work ahead to rebalance supply chain, CP Rail Website, Nov 22, 2021. Accessed Nov 22, 2021.
4. Highway 99 opens to essential traffic, BC Gov News, Nov 20, 2021. Accessed Nov 22, 2021.