Canadian National Rail protests affect freight - Woodland

Protests over proposed pipeline in British Columbia are causing major disruption to Canadian rail network.

CN Rail, a major Canadian rail company, has announced it will be shutting down all trans-continental rail services as a result of ongoing blockages protesting a pipeline in British Columbia, which began last week. 

This countrywide shutdown has already begun to impact the movement of freight and passengers throughout Canada, and is now resulting in delays to many cross border moves from the US into Canada and into global markets such as Europe.

Many ocean carriers operate European services to and from US Midwestern and West Coast states via Canadian sea ports which utilise the rail network in Canada.

These services have ground to a halt over the weekend following the decision by CN Rail to shut down its eastern network altogether.

We understand the Canadian Government is working to find a resolution but it is not yet clear how long the protests will last. More than 150 routes had been cancelled previously amid protests against the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

Woodland will be working to ensure minimal impact to our customers by offering alternative routings from the areas affected in Canada and the US.