Following the 48-hour railway halt by Transport Canada for areas of British Columbia which began on Friday, July 9, 2021, at 12:01 am PDT, a second Ministerial Order has been issued to monitor and restrict rail movement in response to the significant wildfires.
This new Ministerial Order took effect on Sunday, July 11, 2021, at 12:01 am PDT and will remain in effect until October 31, 2021. This order allows for the ongoing monitoring of targeted areas for fire risk and details measures that must be taken by rail lines to minimize impacts such as reducing speeds and reporting fires if spotted.
This announcement comes after several rail lines were damaged, causing rail service to be temporarily stopped last week and subsequently restored. In addition to this, the wildfires caused several major roads to be blocked.
Operations at the Port of Vancouver have also been impacted, causing delays in the processing of cargo. For international intermodal traffic, there continue to be restrictions on export loads and empties destined for ports in Vancouver, and import loads are being processed as capacity allows. For domestic intermodal traffic, processing continues with some delays expected.
For more details:
- Government of Canada – Ministerial Order 21-06
We will continue to monitor this situation and provide any relevant updates as they happen.