Shipping lines serving Montreal were among the first to work with land carriers to create a seamless, "door-to-door" transportation system.

Today, ship, train and truck services continuously interconnect to transport cargo from point of origin to final destination in the most efficient manner possible.

As the cornerstone of this system, container-shipping lines with regular services have made Montreal their primary port of call in North America. The port is a terminus for these lines, whose vessels completely unload and load here.

Most of these lines offer weekly and bi-weekly services. Over the past few years, many of them have invested in significant upgrades for their fleets – in some cases, acquiring brand-new ships that can carry up to 4,100 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) containers.

The most recently-built vessels serving Montreal include containerships and a number of bulk vessels. In less than 10 years, Montreal-based shipping lines have invested close to $1 billion in their fleets. These commitments speak highly of the Port of Montreal's strengths in a very competitive environment.

Regions served | Shipping lines

The Montreal Port Authority operates its own highly efficient rail network on port territory. This network offers direct access to almost every berth, with over 100 kilometres (60 miles) of track and six locomotives.

The port's railway network is directly linked to the yards of both transcontinental railways – Canadian National and Canadian Pacific – both of whom have dockside rail access. This advantage eliminates the intermediate transshipment that is unavoidable at many other ports, and allows for rapid loading of standard as well as double-stack and spine cars. With connections reaching far into the U.S., Canadian railways head for their destinations in a virtually straight path.

Approximately 60 per cent of the containerized traffic moving through the Port of Montreal is carried inland by rail, mostly to and from markets in Ontario and the U.S. Midwest. Every day, trains measuring approximately 1.7 kilometres (1 mile) in length offer clients a shuttle service between the port and the major metropolitan centres of Toronto, Detroit and Chicago. Some 45 full trains every week!

With its excellent rail links, the Port of Montreal provides shippers with transit times of 10 hours to Toronto, 25 hours to Detroit and just over 30 hours to Chicago.

The Port of Montreal is more strategically situated than the ports of New York/New Jersey, Baltimore or Hampton Roads to serve Chicago and the rest of the U.S. Midwest. In fact, the Port of Montreal is 122 kilometres closer to Chicago by rail than the Port of New York/New Jersey.

Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railways offer regular double-stack service between the Port of Montreal and the Toronto, Detroit and Chicago regions. They also offer double-stack service to Vancouver.

The Port of Montreal's facilities are located just minutes away from a network of highways leading to major centres throughout North America. Toronto and the farthest regions of Central Canada are only hours away. Less than one hour separates the Port of Montreal from New England and the state of New York. No less than 25 trucking companies serve the Quebec, Ontario and U.S. Northeast markets out of the Port of Montreal.

Road distances between Montreal and various markets

A first-rate highway network and proximity to these vast industrial regions help make Montreal a bustling transshipment hub.

With an intermodal transport system that is the envy of the competition, the Port of Montreal is the unparalleled gateway into North America.