I was thinking the train stories might be getting old, so I took a break from them. However, as I was doing the train/Canada/terrorist research I came across something interesting about Canadian creativity in the marketplace that I must share.

Canadian railroads are boosting their economy by attracting manufacturers to deliver their goods in Canada, who then handles US delivery. This draws in goods that are coming from overseas and heading to stores and factories in the US.

Over the last decade, Canada’s government and transportation companies have invested billions of dollars in coast-to-coast infrastructure projects. Now, Asian shippers appear to be moving a larger share of their U.S.-bound cargo through Canada.

To help serve those U.S.-bound shippers, Canada’s biggest railroad by revenue, announced plans in March to build a US$210 million container terminal just outside Toronto to serve as a main hub for cross-border shipping. Toronto is already a major hub for trains entering the US.

The makes so much sense for Canadians. Already, Canada’s railway network is the fifth largest in the world. Canada’s railways move roughly half of Canada’s exports (by volume). So the expansion in rail capability will increase jobs and quality of life for workers (Canada’s railways paid more than $3.0 billion in wages and benefits in 2014).

I like it because Canada is being such a good world neighbor by investing in and developing energy-efficient transportation. Way to go in reducing your carbon footprint.

O Canada!