- Proponents Behind Truro Inland Container Terminal A Year Ago Asked For Multi-million Dollars From Ottawa
By Andrew Macdonald
- Proposed Inland Container Terminal Near Truro Could Compete With Port Saint John
A proposed 2,300-acre inland container terminal near the town of Truro could compete with Port Saint John and its terminal operator, DP World.
Millbrook First Nation in Truro has entered into a 50-50 partnership with Ontario railroader, CREWS to create a massive inland container terminal atOnslow, where the Trans Canada 104 HWY connects with the 102 HWY.
The 102 HWY connects Truro to Halifax.
Millbrook has also partnered with a retail landlord and development company, Endurance Equities of Alberta and Town Centre Properties.
Those firms list Truro-native Pat Lipton as chair and Matthew Stoke as president.
A graphic on the ScotiaPort website shows where cargo would come from across the Maritimes. (ScotiaPort’s website).
They have formed a company called Scotiaport, which in theory would collect containerized cargo from New Brunswick, PEI and Northeastern Nova Scotia via trucks, and then lift the containers onboard Canadian National Railway cars to be shipped to the Port of Halifax from Truro/Onslow.
When I first reported the project in more than 15 news scoops last winter in my Macdonald Notebook, the proponents took down a website heralding the Scotiaport terminal and removed a Youtube video on the development.
That was after I asked Lipton for a business case behind the inland terminal proposal, which is suggested to cost $100M to build.
While the Port of Halifax has the plan to remove transfer trucks in Downtown Halifax, by further utilizing the CN Rail Cut, Scotiaport is also proposing a way to remove more trucks from downtown streets and provincial highways by building an inland container terminal hub near Truro, where cargo would move by CN Rail to Halifax, eliminating the need for transfer trucks to do this work.
The proposed 2,300-acre inland container terminal and a retail hub at Onslow, backed by ScotiaPort and Millbrook First Nation and Pat Lipton. (ScotiaPort graphic of the project).
Scotiaport proponents acknowledge federal government funds will be needed to help build an intersection off of HWY 104, at Onslow, so the inland terminal can connect to the Trans Canada Highway and 102 HWY, the latter of which connects Truro to Halifax.
An interchange or roundabout would come with a multi-million dollar budget – I’ve heard $9M cost – and if the proponents get federal funding it could open 50-50 cost-shared funding from the NS government.
Significantly, Scotiaport bills itself as enhancing the Port of Halifax, and at a press conference on Monday, Halifax port CEO Captain Allan Gray announced his support of the Truro inland container project.
“The project requires federal funding to assist with the construction of new highway interchanges and related roadway infrastructure to connect the ScotiaPort site with Highway 104. The cost to construct the interchanges and roadways is prohibitive, and federal funding is required to make the project feasible,” stated ScotiaPort last winter on its now-removed website.
There were no politicians at Monday’s press conference (Dec. 4th, 2023) and no announcement that governments would fund the project.
On its former website, Scotiaport, stated:
“ScotiaPort is Atlantic Canada’s first and only inland port with 2,300 acres that will serve as a state-of-the-art inter-modal transportation, rail yard, container terminal, warehousing and distribution park. A number of international retailers, distributors and shipping companies wish to establish warehousing and distribution operations at ScotiaPort.”
The proponents also state they have an agreement with a German energy developer called ALPIN-SUN to establish a 1,000-acre solar farm on the northeast corner of the property at Onslow.
The Onslow site of the proposed ScotiaPort inland container terminal, near the Town of Truro. (CN Rail website)
The Scotiaport states the project has the approval of Canadian National Railway, the operator of the rail line in NS connecting to the Port of Halifax.
“Scotiaport has been strategically planned for the point where all parts of Nova Scotia converge; the intersection where Highways 104 and 102 meet in Onslow. This unmatched location already includes a CN Certified Rail Ready Site with plans to construct a 500-acre intermodal rail yard to serve as a transportation hub directly connecting to the Port of Halifax. The site is also 9.5 km from the Debert airport (which features a 1.5 km runway), and only 40 minutes from the Halifax Stanfield International Airport. The location is under four hours of travel time from any point in Nova Scotia, PEI and all major parts of New Brunswick (encompassing both Moncton and Fredericton),” the firm noted.
Prior to its website being taken down last winter when I asked for a business case, graphics suggested ScotiaPort would collect cargo from Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton and other points in N.B..
CN Rail’s spokesperson defines its certification as a ready-to-go site.
“The site you are referring to has been considered by CN as a “Certified Rail Ready Site” which means that CN guarantees that rail service would be available should any customers at that site desire access to CN’s North American network,” said CN’s Julien Bédard.
The Scotiaport website also stated its Truro area inland container terminal would be a benefit to the Port of Halifax.
“The Port of Halifax is busting at the seams and the situation is getting worse. There is nowhere to grow, yet new initiatives continue such as a new $15 million container inspection facility which will exacerbate the container storage, flow, and dwell time issues. When the port is congested, Canadian supply chains suffer.
“An ambitious and much-needed project is now planned to both alleviate congestion at the Port of Halifax, as well as become a major economic driver for Nova Scotia,” said Scotiaport proponents.
“Scotiaport will address truck traffic travelling to the Port of Halifax, increase container shipping capacity to and from the seaport, and provide more warehousing and re-packing facilities for containers and general shipping and supply chains in Atlantic Canada.
“The Port of Halifax is the major container shipping terminal on Canada’s east coast. Thirty percent of the containers travelling to and from the seaport travel by truck, creating upwards of 90,000 truck trips per year into the City of Halifax. This traffic is set to significantly increase in the coming years with the Port of Halifax upgrading its south end container terminal to accommodate the largest container ships in the world, as well as increasing the dock space and processing capacity at its Ceres terminal,” added Scotiaport.
“Scotiaport’s intermodal rail yard, container terminal and warehousing facilities will alleviate this truck traffic through the City of Halifax, and will create ample space for the re-packing of freight, and the storage of containers and freight safely and conveniently away from the point of congestion at the Port of Halifax.
Last winter, after my Macdonald Notebook news site asked Millbrook and Pat Lipton for a business case, the Scotiaport website was taken down. When it was live, I could not find a business case for the project.
While its website went down after I asked Lipton a year ago for a copy of the business plan, and precisely how it expects to turn a profit by connecting the inland terminal to the CN Rail cargo going to the Port of Halifax, the proponents also took down a Youtube video of the project.
There is however still a blurb about the project on the Lipton and Stokes company, Endurance Equities website. That firm specializes in retail and commercial landlording.
Lipton’s Endurance Properties has a national presence in small retail markets.
The mayor of Truro, Bill Mills told me last winter he has seen the plans for the inland container terminal, and that it also includes a retail power centre at the 2,300-acre tract near Truro. This would explain why Lipton’s Endurance Equities is involved with the project, which would benefit from a government-built interchange highway system.
CN endorses rail terminal
In October of 2021, Canadian National Railway certified a 2,300-acre tract of land near Truro as a ready-to-go inland container terminal.
CN states the “Suggested Fit for Use” of the inland terminal lands is “ideal for rail-centric carloads including agribusiness, wood and paper products, transloading.”
CN is the only train carrier in the Port of Halifax, unlike Port Saint John which has three rail operators connecting to North America.
In 2020, CN opened a new inland container terminal in Moncton.
It is designed for customers in New Brunswick to connect with the Port of Halifax, and the opening in 2020 was hailed as reducing some truck traffic on the highways to the Halifax port, by carrying cargo over the CN Rail tracks.
Since CN is the only rail operator servicing the Port of Halifax it has a monopoly.
By granting Scotiaport as a certified ready-to-go site, there is no downsize for CN, regarding its Moncton inland terminal.
CN will still collect Moncton cargo and stands to benefit if Scotiaport begins inland terminal operations in Truro environs because it is the only rail operator to the Halifax port.
CN’s announcement of its 2020 opening of a new intermodal rail service between Moncton and Halifax, was carried out in a news release.
On May 22, 2020, CN stated that “in collaboration with the Halifax Port Authority, stakeholders, ocean carriers, and customers, it will now offer integrated solutions through its Moncton yard aimed at reducing short-haul trucking in Halifax.”
For Monday’s news release on the Scotiaport inland terminal project, click here.
