Richardson | Railyard Expansion

November 2, 2021

Project status
Permit issued

On May 11, 2022, Richardson International Ltd. (Richardson) was issued a project permit to undertake a railyard expansion of their North Vancouver terminal located at 300 and 375 Low Level Road, on federal lands managed by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.

The project was approved subject to 47 permit conditions Richardson must meet to ensure the project does not result in significant adverse environmental effects.

Construction is expected to take approximately 20 weeks. Construction notification was mailed to the community in December 2022.

About the project

Richardson is undertaking a rail-focused expansion of their North Vancouver terminal. The primary purpose of the project is to provide Richardson with greater resilience by allowing the terminal to store an additional loaded unit train on-site instead of relying on CN to temporarily store the train on the rail network. With the track expansion, CN would be able to deliver up to two full trains directly to Richardson without having to use up capacity within the nearby Lynn Yard. This would reduce the likelihood of delays in the rail network caused by Richardson-bound traffic.

The reduction in downtime (while waiting for CN to deliver the second half of a train) would allow Richardson to increase their terminal throughput. Currently, the terminal is operating at a capacity of 6 million metric tonnes (mmt) per annum. With the track expansion, it is expected that the operating capacity of the terminal will be increased to the design capacity of 7 mmt per annum.

Project activities and components include:

Construction of 15 additional storage tracks
Realignment of tracks within the existing yard
Addition of crossovers and turnouts within the existing yard
Installation of truck turnaround area, emergency access road and construction of new vehicular access gates (security and emergency)
Various associated works such as installation of new lighting, fencing and utilities

Resources

Contact information
To provide feedback on the project, please visit the Richardson’s website or contact Kelcey Vossen by email ([email protected]) or by phone at 204.934.4118.

For questions regarding the Project and Environmental Review of the project, or to get in touch with our team, please contact us by email or phone at 604.665.9047.

Please note, when receiving public feedback as part of the PER process, the port authority may collect your personal information, i.e., your name, contact information and personal views and opinions, to inform the PER process for a proposed project. Your personal information may be disclosed to third parties, such as our tenants, in order for them to respond directly to you or help inform our response. You are entitled to submit a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner office here.