The Auburn terminal has large-lift vehicles
The 35-acre terminal, which opened 20 years ago, connects Maine shippers with the Canadian National Railway and its straight run across the continent to the port of Vancouver and a new container terminal in Prince Rupert in British Columbia.
The Auburn terminal has large-lift vehicles called “reach stackers” that pick up containers off truck chassis and place them on flatbed rail cars. This allows companies that don’t have direct rail access to ship freight on trains. L.L.Bean in Freeport, which uses the Auburn facility to receive a “significant” amount of its freight from Asia, could be affected by the change, according to L.L.Bean spokeswoman Carolyn Beem. She said the company is monitoring the situation and has a plan in place for moving goods if it’s unable to use the hub.
“CN is terminating its rail service to the Auburn Intermodal Terminal because traffic volumes are not sufficient to sustain that service,” said Jim Feeny, director of public and government affairs for the railway.
Though the center will remain open, the short-line railroad that operates it, the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railway, is only 157 miles long, beginning at Portland’s East Deering neighborhood and ending in the suburbs of Montreal.
There is no truck-and-rail hub at the end of the line, said Chalmers Hardenbergh, publisher of Atlantic Northeast Rails and Ports, an industry newsletter.
