It’s been over a year since the idea of a rail park was penned, but a group of businesses are finally ready to call CentrePort Canada Rail Park their new home.
FastFrate Group, comprising five companies, is working on building up its new facility in the rail park. With an investment of $55 million, the facility is expected to be up and running next year. This makes the group the first to break ground in the rail park — a project that began in 2022 with the hopes of enhancing Manitoba’s trimodal inland port.
While CentrePort makes up thousands of acres within Winnipeg and the RM of Rosser, the rail park is a 665-acre project.
In a press release on Aug. 1, CentrePort said the move to establish a working facility in the park could create more than 150 new jobs within the first year of operation. For president Carly Edmundson, the announcement “marks an important day in CentrePort’s history.”
Premier Heather Stefanson echoed that in Tuesday’s press conference, stating that a new facility and the ongoing work at the rail park is an important economic project for Manitoba.
“Manitoba is in a unique position of being in the middle of North America. Our geography gives us the opportunity to be leading trade corridor,” said Stefanson. “This is just the beginning of creating more good jobs with this economic corridor.”
The rail project is being developed by Focus Equities Inc. In a previous interview with Global News, the company said the plan was to create a rail network that would link three countries — the U.S., Canada and Mexico — together, making it a hot commodity.
“We have worked hard over the last five years to create a rail-served industrial development in order for globally connected companies to thrive in the heart of the continent. Our goal to attract new businesses to Manitoba is being realized,” owner Ken Mariash said in the press release.
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