Trans-Talk

This week’s Business in Vancouver (BIV) features three local transportation stories:

1. On January 28, 2010, USA President Obama announced the first recipients selected to receive grant funding under the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) Program. The highly tentative plans include two high-speed rail networks linking major U.S. westcoast cities.
   

   Vancouver (BC) is one proposed northern terminus for a leg running south to Eugene, OR. Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson spoke with Curt Cherewayko about the chances (slim) and the challenges of getting Canadian customs cooperation for the soon-to-expire trial run of a second daily Amtrak train between Seattle and Vancouver.

2. Mike Shannon of English Bay Launch talks about the prospects for his Bowen Island passenger ferry business, which currently operates three daily round-trips between Bowen-Coal Harbour and Bowen-Granville Island. Although Shannon admits “It’s an uphill battle to go against a highly subsidized [BC Ferries],” he’s confident he will succeed where others have failed. (BC Ferries lost $1.2 million on its Bowen Island-Horseshoe Bay passenger car route despite $6.5 million in government subsidies, according to BIV.)
3. Versacold CEO Brent Sugden talks to the BIV’s Andrew Petrozzi about Eimskip’s now-failed purchase and consolidation of Versacold and Atlas Cold Storage. New owner Yucaipa Companies’ plan to merge Versacold and Yucaipa-owned Americold RealtyTrust, the USA’s largest public refrigerated warehouse operator, “is in a holding pattern for now.”

The same BIV issue contains the newspaper’s Top 100 Private Companies in BC list, wherein Versacold is ranked 10th by annual revenue ($1.3 billion). Other non-pipeline, transportation-related companies on the list include:

• CHC Helicopter (12)
• Kal Tire (14)
• BC Ferries (22)
• Washington Marine Group (27)
• Vancouver Airport Authority (YVR) (37)
• Kelowna Flightcraft Group (49)
• et al

(Source: BIV, Issue 1077, June 15-21, 2010 - “Cascadian mayors flirt with romance of high-speed rail”, “Subsidies sinking ferry options in B.C.”, “Refrigeration magnate stays out in the cold”)

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