The idea of building an “inland port” in landlocked Saskatchewan to allow cargo from trains, trucks and even planes to be loaded, unloaded, stored and shipped seems more like sci-fi fantasy than reality. But the Global Transportation Hub — a cluster of transportation, warehousing and distribution facilities — is already taking shape on 2,000 acres of farmland just west of Regina.

In July, sod was turned at Yanke Group of Cos.’ $20-million trucking terminal, container yard and refrigerated warehouse at the GTH. Saskatoon-based Yanke — which has six operating divisions and 600 employees across Canada — is the first homegrown tenant in the GTH. Yanke’s truck and intermodal terminal and container facilities will handle 400 to 500 trucked loads per week.

In June, Canadian Pacific Railway officially began work on its $50-million intermodal facility on a 300-acre parcel of land within the GTH. When the new CP terminal is completed in 2012, it will be able to handle about 250,000 container loadings per year, compared with 45,000 at CP’s present facility.

And in February, the Canadian Logistics Services distribution centre officially opened its 423,000-square-foot first phase. When the centre’s second phase is completed in late 2011, the CLS centre will boast almost one million square feet of space capable of handling 76 million cases of food and other items annually from Loblaw Cos. Ltd. — one of the biggest shippers in Canada.

About 1,400 trucks per week will be pulling in and out of the CLS centre, so Saskatchewan has committed more than $100 million to building new highways, interchanges and bypasses to accommodate the increased traffic flow around the GTH. The federal government also has contributed $27 million to the $93-million cost of relocating CP’s container yards.

GTH chairman Wayne Elhard believes this is just the beginning for the GTH. “This project has the potential really to transform the way we do transportation in this province,” said the former provincial highways and infrastructure minister, who was appointed to head the GTH in June 2009.

What’s driving this dream are three major trends in trade and transportation: the rise of the Asia/Pacific region; the increased use of containers to transport goods globally; and the confluence of rail, road and air transportation systems. As our transportation and distribution systems integrate and increase in speed and efficiency, the potential to move goods — not just east and west, but north and south — becomes much greater. “We can take goods from China and send them to the Gulf of Mexico in a fairly quick timeline,” Elhard says. “That’s where our opportunity is.”

Regina’s GTH stands at the northern crossroads of this evolving continental transportation network. The city’s central geographical location, the confluence of the CP main line and Soo Lines, two major highways, including the Trans-Canada, and proximity to skilled labour were the key factors in siting the GTH near Regina.

“Being a landlocked province was seen as a disadvantage for 150 years,’’ Elhard muses. “Now, it’s a positive attribute.” IE