Railroad News

Rail News Home Canadian National Railway - CN 4/7/2022 Rail News: Canadian National Railway - CN
CN and the Montreal Port Authority have agreed to integrate rail transport at the port's new container terminal in Contrecœur, the parties announced yesterday.A private partner will be retained to develop and operate the terminal. CN and port officials will define the technical aspects of the project's intermodal service, they said in a joint press release.The agreement is designed to strengthen the new terminal's position with shippers and give companies greater access to markets in Ontario and the U.S. Midwest, they said.The CN rail line is already in place in the area covered by the port's expansion in Contrecœur. In addition to establishing the intermodal service, the partnership aims to ensure close cooperation between CN, the port authority and the future private partner, port officials said."Teaming up with the Montreal Port Authority and future partners allows us to design an efficient rail-served terminal to provide customers with a high quality, consistent and safe intermodal service on our network," said CN President and CEO Tracy Robinson. "This will help support our long-term, sustainable growth."

Rail News Home Canadian National Railway - CN 4/6/2022 Rail News: Canadian National Railway - CN
CN yesterday announced it presented its annual Safe Handling Awards to 241 shippers for their performance in 2021.Launched in 1992, the award is presented to customers who load freight cars with dangerous goods and meet strict standards for the safe handling and shipment of regulated products.The winners must meet established criteria, according to the total number of shipments of dangerous goods for all facilities, CN officials said in a press release."This award reflects the commitment of our customers to ensuring we run a safe operation. Safety is a core value at CN and one we share with our customers as we must all be engaged and responsible for creating a safe environment for employees and communities," said Buck Rogers, vice-president of petroleum and chemicals, rail centric supply chain at CN.The award is part of the Responsible Care® Program, an ongoing performance improvement initiative in which CN is a partner in Canada and the United States.Click here to view the list of award winners for safe performance in 2021.

Rail News Home Canadian National Railway - CN 3/16/2022 Rail News: Canadian National Railway - CN
CN today announced it will make a combined donation of CA$1.1 million to the Canada-Ukraine Foundation and to Razom in the United States in support of Ukrainians displaced by the war in Ukraine.CN will also be matching donations made through the CN Employees' and Pensioners' Community Fund, company officials said in a press release.The donations will help the foundation and Razom to continue providing humanitarian assistance and relief to displaced persons by offering medical care, emergency shelter and food, said CN President and CEO Tracy Robinson."Our company’s history is tied to the settlement of western Canada by Ukrainians and we are proud to have CN employees, retirees and stakeholders in both Canada and the US who are of Ukrainian descent," she added.The Canada-Ukraine Foundation was formed in 1995 to coordinate, develop, organize, and deliver assistance projects generated by Canadians and directed to Ukraine.Razom is a U.S.-based nonprofit that aims to improve Ukraine. In response to the war, Razom volunteers created the Razom Emergency Response, which is focused on purchasing medical supplies, hospital supplies and tech-enabled emergency response supplies that facilitate the delivery of aid.

Rail News Home Canadian National Railway - CN 3/2/2022 Rail News: Canadian National Railway - CN
CN has asked the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to condition any approval of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger on the divestiture of the KCS line from Kansas City, Missouri, to Springfield and East St. Louis, Illinois, to CN.CN made the request based on the STB’s statutory authority to order “the divestiture of parallel tracks" as a merger condition, company officials said in a press release. Granting CN control of what it calls the "Kansas City Speedway" line would provide rail customers with a new competitive option to move goods across a key North American economic corridor, they proposed.CN would invest in the Kansas City Speedway, which would "benefit customers and communities, create union and management jobs, and produce substantial environmental benefits by taking 80,000 trucks off the road annually," company officials said."Under the right ownership, we believe there is a clear opportunity to bring widespread economic benefits for customers and communities across the American Midwest and Canada," said CN Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Rob Reilly. "CN has a comprehensive plan for the Kansas City Speedway that will increase competition, create jobs, reduce roadway congestion, and positively impact the environment."CN’s creation of the Kansas City Speedway would ensure that automotive and intermodal customers in particular would have "greater competitive shipping options between Eastern Canada, Detroit, Chicago and Kansas City," CN officials said.Over 70 letters of support for the proposal have been filed with the STB, they added.

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On Jan. 25, CN announced Tracy Robinson would become its next president and CEO on Feb. 28. Robinson’s appointment follows the previously announced retirement of Jean-Jacques Ruest as the Class I’s leader. Ruest will depart CN’s board on Feb. 28, but will serve as an adviser until March 31 to “ensure a seamless transition,” CN officials said.

Rail News Home Canadian National Railway - CN 2/7/2022 Rail News: Canadian National Railway - CN
The back-and-forth between CN and Canadian Pacific over the latter’s application for approval of its acquisition of Kansas City Southern is continuing, according to documents filed in recent days with the Surface Transportation Board (STB).Late last week, CN filed a letter with the STB in response to CP’s letter that addressed CN's intention to submit a responsive application asking the STB to condition its approval of the CP-KCS merger on the divestiture of KCS lines from Kansas City, Missouri, to Springfield and East St. Louis, Illinois, to CN.The Springfield Line is a direct competitive alternative to CP’s route from Kansas City to Chicago, and beyond to Detroit and eastern Canada, according to CN.To read CN’s letter in response to CP’s Jan. 28 letter, click here.To read the CP letter to the STB, click here.

Rail News Home Canadian National Railway - CN 1/26/2022 Rail News: Canadian National Railway - CN
Tracy Robinson will become CN's next president and CEO on Feb. 28. She will be the second woman to lead a North American Class I. Photo – tcenergy.com

Rail News Home Canadian National Railway - CN 1/13/2022 Rail News: Canadian National Railway - CN
CN announced today it intends to ask the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to condition any approval of a Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger on the divestiture of KCS lines from Kansas City, Missouri, to Springfield and East St. Louis, Illinois, to CN.CN yesterday informed the STB of its intent to file a responsive application on Feb. 28 in accordance with the board’s schedule for reviewing the CP-KCS merger application.The Springfield Line is a direct competitive alternative to CP’s route from Kansas City to Chicago, and beyond to Detroit and eastern Canada. CP and KCS have made it clear in their merger application that they plan no investment on the Springfield Line, and instead will de-emphasize it in favor of CP’s existing parallel line, CN officials said in a press release.Putting the line under CN’s control "represents a major opportunity to improve transportation options, promote rail-to-rail competition, and take many of thousands of long-haul trucks off the road annually through increased rail-to-truck competition," the press release stated.Specifically, CN would invest at least $250 million in the line, including terminal upgrades; opening new international markets to customers; and preserving existing options by providing KCS access to customers on the line, CN officials said.

Rail News Home Canadian National Railway - CN 12/22/2021 Rail News: Canadian National Railway - CN
CN's network in British Columbia was shut down for three weeks due to washouts. Photo – cn.ca

Rail News Home Canadian National Railway - CN 12/20/2021 Rail News: Canadian National Railway - CN
CN expects to announce in January the selection of a new chief executive officer to succeed President and CEO JJ Ruest.The CN board’s search committee, with the assistance of Korn Ferry, has identified and continues to interview a number of candidates. In October, Ruest announced his plans to retire in January 2022, or at a later time when a successor is named.As part of its search process, the committee conducted “multiple rounds of interviews” with former CN executive Jim Vena and conducted due diligence with respect to his candidacy.However, last night Vena notified the board that he’s no longer interested in pursuing the role and has withdrawn from the process, CN officials said in a press release.Vena had been the choice of major shareholder TCI Fund Management, which earlier this year challenged CN’s proposed acquisition of Kansas City Southern. KCS has since been acquired by Canadian Pacific, and KCS shares have been placed in a voting trust until the Surface Transportation Board decides whether to approve its merger with Canadian Pacific.

Rail News Home Canadian National Railway - CN 12/15/2021 Rail News: Canadian National Railway - CN
CN announced a seven-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud aimed at modernizing the Class I’s supply chain through digital scheduled railroading and technology infrastructure.The companies will collaborate in an effort to "revolutionize" the North American rail system, CN officials said in a press release.The partnership will support CN's sustainability goals because Google’s cloud platform is the cleanest in the industry, they said.The partnership will focus on three initiatives that aim to:
• enable better connectivity and collaboration with customers and supply chain partners. CN will develop an intuitive digital platform, powered by Google Cloud’s artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools, to give customers and supply chain partners more visibility into the logistics journey of planning, shipping, tracking and payment.


• deliver new experiences for CN’s customers through co-innovation initiatives. The partnership will combine the companies' expertise in data analytics, AI, and ML to deliver solutions and next-generation experiences for CN’s employees, customers, and partners, such as simplified ordering and automated tracking to further enhance predictive maintenance capabilities.


• modernize CN’s infrastructure in the cloud. CN will gradually and securely move the large majority of its digital infrastructure, including SAP applications, from on-premises to Google Cloud’s always-on global network. Moving to the cloud will enable CN to scale with customer and industry demands, simplify the company’s IT estate, create efficiencies and reduce product delivery lead times.

Rail News Home Canadian National Railway - CN 12/10/2021 Rail News: Canadian National Railway - CN
CN has been recognized for leadership in corporate governance, ranking first in The Globe and Mail’s annual comprehensive assessment of 220 S&P/TSX Composite Index members.CN was given a score of 98 out of 100 points, CN officials said in a press release.Companies were ranked on 38 questions as well as sub-questions on many subjects including environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG), sustainability, board composition, shareholding and compensation, shareholder rights and disclosure.Details of the ranking and methodology available are available here."I am proud that CN’s board has been recognized as a leader on corporate governance amongst its peers as the company continues to power sustainable growth for its customers, people, communities and shareholders. I would like to thank CN employees for their dedication to implementing our strategic plan and maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance," said CN Chair Robert Pace.