page_title: Marpole Bridge
section_title: Later CP operation
hierarchical_section_title: Marpole Bridge / History / Later CP operation
caption_attribution_description: Oak Street Bridge and Fraser River, Vancouver
context_page_description: The Marpole CP Rail Bridge is a partially dismantled crossing over the north arm of the Fraser River, and River Dr., in Metro Vancouver.
context_section_description: In 1992, the railway crossing was lifted during the No. 2 Road Bridge construction.
  By this time, apart from those No. 2 Rd–Steveston sections already sold, such as the Lynas Lane city works yard, the remaining track was largely overgrown with dense bramble and 6-metre (20 ft) high birch. A few years later, this track was lifted.
  By 2002, the only active spur south of Cambie Rd. was Canadian Firelog beside No. 2 Rd., but Ebco Industries (7851 Alderbridge Way) experienced limited use. By 2007, the two major customer spurs were Univar (River Dr./Van Horne Way), and Fraser River Terminals (opposite on River Dr.). Columbia Foam (9500 Van Horne Way) received infrequent service.
  In 2006, the city purchased the No. 2 Rd–Capstan Way section, allowing CP use to Gilbert Rd. until 2010, but immediately ended service to Canadian Firelog. In realigning River Rd. and developing the Richmond Olympic Oval site, the track southwest of Hollybridge Way was lifted. That year, the Canada Line Operations and Maintenance Centre site was prepared. This involved the demolition of several warehouses, and the rerouting of CP tracks between the southern approaches for the CP Rail and North Arm SkyTrain bridges. 
  In 2010, the city purchased the Railway Ave. stretch, which opened exclusively as a greenway in 2013, quashing any prospects of restoring light rail.
  In 2014, the track southwest of the bridge, unused at least since 2010, was lifted along the long curve passing beneath the Canada Line, and for the remainder southwest of the Richmond Marina. That year, a hot and fast fire, possibly started by vandals, destroyed a 100-metre (330 ft) section of the creosote-treated wooden trestle approach on the Marpole side. The thick smoke temporarily closed the Oak Street Bridge, and impacted Vancouver International Airport flights. In failing to repair the structure, CP violated its obligations of providing a weekly service to Univar, one of the country’s biggest chemical distributors, isolated by the incident.
  In 2016, the right-of-way north of Marpole, inactive for over a decade, was sold to become the Arbutus Greenway. After a barge collision that year, CP removed the swing span within days, and its platform in 2017. The track west of the Ontario St. yard appears unused.
caption: Northeastward, CP Rail Bridge in foreground, 
   Oak St. Bridge in background
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Oak Street Bridge and Fraser River, Vancouver", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image Software": "Google", "Image Artist": "Bob Linsdell", "Image Copyright": "\u00a92014 Robert David Linsdell, some rights reserved, CC BY 4.0", "Image ExifOffset": "214", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3539", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1991"}