CP Railway recognizes Moose Jaw as 2020 Terminal of the Year

Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) has recognized Moose Jaw as its 2020 Terminal of the Year, which is the first time that the terminal has won since the awards began in 2014.

“It’s truly an honour for the people and employees of Moose Jaw to be recognized for the hard work they did over the course of 2020,” said John Bell, general manager, Prairie south region.

“Moose Jaw is a critical cog in the wheel of the CP network, being that we’re the connection to our U.S. network, both our east and west main lines for trans-mountain business, and also the northern section of our network — the potash mines of northern Saskatchewan across to Esterhazy as well.”

Employees here play a critical role in the company’s smooth functioning because if the Moose Jaw terminal is operating well, the entire network from coast to coast also does well, Bell continued. “Every terminal in CP … wants this award and wants the prestige of it. It’s sought after, everybody works hard to get this every year, so it’s by no means an easy feat to win,” he added, “and the people of Moose Jaw deserve this — the people who work here — (since) they grinded it out in 2020 through the pandemic … .” Employees at the Moose Jaw terminal gathered near their office on Manitoba Street on March 31 for a small ceremony to celebrate the achievement.

It’s not easy to win this award since it is more about the team’s effort than any one individual, said Bell. Everyone pulled together even if they worked in different areas, whether it is fixing locomotives to ensuring rail lines are safe to switching cars on time.

Bell explained it wasn’t just what the terminal did in 2020 that mattered, but how it did it. Safety is the No. 1 focus of the business, he pointed out, so there is no point in taking on more responsibilities, loads or duties if they lead to more incidents.

In 2020, the Moose Jaw terminal:

• Reduced its injuries and frequencies of train-related accidents by 35 per cent;

• Was accurate in shipping deliveries 99 per cent of the time;

• Increased the number of cars it handled at the terminal by 22 per cent. “We’ve got a great safety committee in Moose Jaw that has taken the time to look back, look at what we do, how can we do it better (and) what can we do differently just to improve on our employees… ,” added Bell. “It’s everybody from the ground to the executive level that plays a part in each terminal’s success.” There are roughly 500 people who work at CP’s Moose Jaw terminal.