CN has announced a plan to build a C$250-million intermodal and logistics hub adjacent to its main line in the Town of Milton, Ont., located approximately 30 miles west of Toronto. Milton has ready access to major highways reaching key industrial and commercial areas in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).

Claude Mongeau, CN president and chief executive officer, said: “CN’s advanced intermodal and logistics facility in Milton will help us efficiently handle growing intermodal traffic. The new hub will benefit our customers and the regional economy by improving central Canada’s access to the key transborder market as well as the Pacific and Atlantic coast trade gateways we serve, generating new supply chain efficiencies in the GTHA, and creating well-paying local jobs.”

CN’s intermodal business — principally containerized international and domestic cargo moving in cooperation with trucks and ocean-going ships — is one of the company’s fastest growing business segments and its largest single business unit with 2014 revenues of more than C$2.7 billion.

The new Milton facility will complement Brampton Intermodal Terminal (BIT), CN’s existing Toronto-area intermodal terminal in Brampton. BIT is nearing capacity, but will continue to operate for the long term.

CN believes the new intermodal and logistics hub will generate specific supply chain benefits in the GTHA by:

• Facilitating logistics development in Milton and the Regional Municipality of Halton, the facility is expected to attract more warehousing distribution centres (DCs) and associated employment — new DCs have opened near Milton in recent years owing to land availability and good access to the highway system;
• Supplying additional intermodal capacity and container availability for exporters located in the southwest area of the GTHA, and;
• Creating more than 1,000 direct and indirect jobs in Milton and Halton Region.

CN will submit a complete project description of the planned Milton hub to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency for review.

The Logistics Hub will include an intermodal terminal. Intermodal transportation involves moving goods in a unique container for the entire journey, using more than one mode of transportation to carry it: truck, rail or ship. Many domestic and international products are shipped this way, like food, toys, clothing, electronics, furniture and more.

An intermodal facility, such as the one that will be built in Milton, is a place where containers are transferred from rail to truck. From here, they are sent to their final destinations, including your favourite stores, safely and efficiently. The new facility will handle four intermodal trains daily, with two additional trains moving on the mainline each day.