The Port of Vancouver on Thursday shined a spotlight on the completion of a $30 million project — a new rail entrance to the port dubbed the “trench” — that’s part of a larger effort to relieve congestion and to speed products to markets.
A new rail entrance to the port, the project allows trains carrying a variety of cargoes to move under the Columbia River Rail Bridge and to avoid conflicts with BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad mainlines.
The trench is part of the port’s overall $275 million West Vancouver Freight Access project, in the works for about 10 years. The port expects the freight-rail venture to reduce rail congestion by as much as 40 percent.