• Background
  • Our History
  • Milestones
  • Coal Chain
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    Coal Chain

    Coal from west central Alberta and southeastern British Columbia mines is hauled up to 1,200 kilometres to tidewater at Westshore Terminals on Canada’s West Coast – one of the longest export coal journeys in the world. The coal is hauled by Canada's two major railways, CPR and CN. The terrain is rugged and conditions sometimes difficult, but the unit coal trains deliver the coal to the coast year round.

    The efficiency of this movement has recently been substantially improved by the Canadian National Canadian Pacific co- production agreement for the Fraser Canyon section of the route. This agreement, under which loaded coal trains travel over CN from Kamloops to Mission and empty coal trains travel over CPR from Mission to Kamloops creates very efficient high capacity double track for over 1/3 of the route.

    The Canadian coal transportation system has never been more advantageous than it is now.

    The coal shipped through Westshore Terminals represents over $1.5 billion a year for Canada and accounts for about 30% of all tonnage through the Port of Vancouver.

    Westshore's major customer is the Elk Valley Coal Partnership, which was formed in a consolidation of the Canadian coal industry in February 2003.

    Elk Valley Coal operates six mines. Five in southeastern British Columbia are:

    • Greenhills
    • Line Creek
    • Coal Mountain
    • Fording River
    • Elkview
    In November 2004, Elk Valley Coal opened its new Cheviot Creek Mine in central west Alberta. Elk Valley Coal is the second largest exporter of metallurgical coal in the world and is increasing mine capacity by three million tonnes to 28 million tonnes within a few years.

    In 2004, Westshore signed a new long-term agreement to ship coal from Grande Cache in Alberta. With a re-opened mine now in operation, shipments from the west central site are expected to total about 2 million tonnes a year.

    Westshore also ships export thermal coal from the Luscar Group in Alberta.

    Other shipments are made from the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming in the United States. Using Burlington Northern-Santa Fe, mines have sent their shipments up to 2,000 kilometres to the port. World markets for coal must continue to improve before regular shipments begin.