The government of Canada announced on Sunday that it will invest $47.5 million on two projects aimed at increasing capacity at the Port of Halifax and reducing truck traffic in downtown Halifax.
Marc Garneau, Canada’s minister of transport, and Andy Fillmore, a member of Canada’s Parliament, said part of the money will be used to increase storage capacity at the Port of Halifax by increasing capacity on a rail line that connects two container terminals located at different ends of Halifax peninsula. They are South End Container Terminal, operated by Halterm, and the Fairview Cove Container Terminal at the north end operated by Ceres.
Tracks will be added within the existing footprint of what’s known as the “rail cut” and four new rail-mounted cranes will be added to load and unload containers faster and more efficiently at both terminals.
Lane Farguson, a spokesman for the port, said a new container yard will be added near the Fairview Cove Container Terminal so that containers can be moved to and from the Halterm facility by rail, which is about 4 to 5 miles away, instead of by trucks driving through the heart of the Halifax.
