The Port of Vancouver has halted all rail shipments going in and out following multiple mudslides that have closed the CN and CP mainlines.

The mudslides and washouts are the result of up to 200 millitres of rain over a two-day period early this week.

The President of Pulse Canada, Greg Cherewyk says the railways can’t provide an estimate on how long it will take to restore service

“The kind of language that we’re hearing which is ‘We don’t know and we can’t project the day that which it will return’ not only to normal but some level of capacity that will be reduced for some time. That level of uncertainty is really concerning.”

Saskatchewan exports grain, potash and other commodities through the Port of Vancouver while we receive many imported consumer goods from that location as well

He says, “There are about 5000 cars under load, that’s fifty trains trying to get into that corridor so that doesn’t count the number of cars that are typically ordered at this period of time and how many would typically move through that corridor. These numbers are enormous.”

In some cases, the railways can only see the washouts from the air and are unable to access the location on the ground.

Cherewyk was asked when either railway is estimating when service will resume. He says, “Along very narrow stretches of track in some cases you cannot access them. There’s no road traffic into these areas so they’re trying to access them by air. It’s going to be some time before we can answer this question better and that alone is troubling.