New train inspection facility to reduce traffic delays

A new train scanner to be installed at the border may reduce traffic delays in Blaine and Birch Bay as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says the new technology would allow trains to travel at twice the speed.

In a May 10 Blaine City Council meeting, CBP program manager Garret Kylie Reinhart told council the new system will increase scanning efficiency and security. Trains will be allowed travel up to 12 mph through the new scanners, while the current scanner allows for a maximum of 5 mph, he said.

CBP announced in a May 12 press release that it will, in a $46 million initiative, begin replacing aging rail scanning systems at 12 ports of entry this fall. “Blaine was specifically chosen, along with another location along the northern border, due to health and safety reasons,” Reinhart said, referring to the Bell Road and Peace Portal Drive intersection.

Bell Road connects the communities of Birch Bay and Semiahmoo with downtown Blaine and Interstate 5. Because of the placement of the current scanning system, just south of the intersection, a train can cause long traffic delays when undergoing inspection, especially if something is detected and further investigation required. Reinhart said the trains are then stopped, blocking the intersection, while the suspected car is inspected and possibly replaced.

While delaying residents on their way to work or school, these hold ups can also impact emergency vehicles response times.

With the new system, with a proposed location about halfway between the border and Marine Drive, CBP officers will be able to inspect rail cars while in their vehicles so that stopping a detected train will not always be necessary, Reinhart said.

The new scanners use linear accelerators to generate X-rays from electricity rather than radioactive isotopes, producing high-quality images that support faster and more secure cargo inspections, according to the release.

“Non-intrusive inspection technology is a force multiplier that allows CBP officers to safely and more efficiently process U.S.-bound cargo,” William A. Ferrara, CBP Office of Field Operations executive assistant commissioner, said in the release. “The high-quality images produced by the new rail cargo scanners will enhance CBP’s efforts to interdict stowaways, deadly narcotics, and other contraband while facilitating the flow of lawful trade.”

CBP’s 6.4 million non-intrusive inspections at U.S. ports of entry found about 470,000 pounds of illicit narcotics and $11.54 million in undeclared currency during 2020, according to the release.

Reinhart said while trains will be able to travel 12 mph through the new scanners, it’s not required. And they don’t have to travel that fast through town either.

He said the current speed of trains coming out of White Rock, B.C., is about 10 mph and trains slow to about 5 mph around the bend through town. Northbound trains, which do not require inspection, travel through Blaine at speeds upwards of 30 mph. While CBP does not have control over what speeds BNSF trains travel, Reinhart said the new scanner should reduce traffic delays and inconvenient train stops.

Under the initiative, scanners will also be installed in Brownsville, Texas; Buffalo, New York; Calexico, California; Eagle Pass, Texas; Eastport, Idaho; El Paso, Texas (a BNSF Railway and a Union Pacific Railroad crossing); International Falls/Rainer, Minnesota; Nogales, Arizona; Portal, North Dakota; and Rouses Point, New York. These 12 ports of entry, including Blaine, process about 60 percent of the rail cargo imported in the U.S., CBP reports.

Stephen McKeon of Rapiscan AS&E, CBP’s contractor for the Blaine section of the project, told city council the new scanners will generate X-rays only when trains are present – scanning stops automatically after a train has passed through the scanner. Shield walls will also be installed on both sides of the tracks at the site to ensure community safety, he said.

McKeon said construction and installation of the new scanner will likely take four to six months due to the constraints of working on an active railway. And with design and planning to finish, Reinhart said he expects the scanner to be fully installed and operational by this time next year, but he’s hoping it will be sooner.

By installing a new, high-speed scanner, Reinhart said CBP hopes to right the wrong that was done in 2003, when the current system was installed, and amend the time residents have spent waiting at crossings. “CBP is committed to transparency with the community as well as the city to work alongside you and to address any issues you may have,” Reinhart told mayor Bonnie Onyon and council.