Railroad News

CN last week announced it will contribute an additional CA$1.5 million to immediate relief efforts in the village of Lytton, British Columbia, and the Lytton First Nation.

CN’s contribution will be spent according to the expressed needs of the Lytton community and the Lytton First Nation, CN officials said in a press release.

Progressive Railroading and RailTrends® have named CN President and Chief Executive Officer Jean-Jacques Ruest the 2021 recipient of the Railroad Innovator Award, which recognizes an individual's outstanding achievement in the rail industry.

Ruest, who joined CN at the time the railroad was privatized in 1996, was appointed president and CEO in July 2018 after having served in both posts in an interim capacity since March 2018.

CN has ordered 1,000 new generation, high-capacity grain hopper cars to help meet the growing needs of North American grain farmers and demands of grain customers.

The order is part of a larger program to build and renew a fleet of 6,000 hopper cars over the next three years, CN officials said in a press release.

CN yesterday announced its board election results, including the unanimous reelection of Robert Pace as chair.

Pace is president and chief executive officer of The Pace Group Ltd., based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The company is engaged in radio broadcasting, real estate and environmental services.

CN today announced that it has made what it characterizes as a superior proposal to combine with Kansas City Southern in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at $33.7 billion, or $325 per share.

"Together, CN and KCS will create the premier railway for the 21st century, seamlessly connecting ports and rails in the United States, Mexico and Canada and providing superior service, enhanced competition and new market access to move goods across North America efficiently and safely," according to a CN press release issued this morning.

CN moved 2.95 million metric tons (MMT) of western Canadian grain in March, exceeding its previous record of 2.74 MMT set in 2020 and 19% ahead of its three-year average of 2.47 MMT, according to a news release.

During first-quarter 2021, CN moved 8.2 MMT of Canadian grain, exceeding its previous first-quarter record of 7.0 MMT established in 2017 and more than 25% higher than the three-year average of 6.5 MMT.  

The Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Railroads (OCR) has issued an order that resolves a dispute between CN's Wisconsin Central Ltd. (WCL) line and the town of Richmond in St. Croix County over the railroad's plan for a new autoport and intermodal shipping facility in the area.

Issued Sept. 14, the OCR's order calls for the town to relocate 105th Street to avoid establishing a new crossing of proposed siding tracks with 105th Street at its current location.

CN has awarded a contract to National Steel Car Ltd. of Hamilton, Ontario, to build 1,150 new generation, high-capacity grain hopper cars.

The contract brings to CA$1 billion the amount the Class I plans to invest in Ontario by the end of 2022, CN officials said yesterday in a press release.

CN yesterday unveiled its 2020-21 grain plan, and announced it set a new record by moving more than 30 million metric tons (MMT) of grain across Canada during the 2019-20 crop year.

In addition, CN announced that it is prepared to move up to 7,600 bulk and processed hopper cars per week outside of winter, and up to 6,100 per week during winter in the upcoming crop year.

CN announced today it will spend $60 million across Louisiana and $50 million across Mississippi on infrastructure projects this year.

In Louisiana, the dollars will go toward a multiyear project to rebuild the McComb Spillway Bridge. In addition, crews will replace 6 miles of rail, install 20,000 new ties, rebuild 21 grade crossing surfaces, and perform maintenance work on bridges, crossings, culverts, signaling and track.

CN announced this week it will invest nearly CA$1.3 billion this year in capital expenditures on infrastructure in the provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta and Quebec.

In British Columbia, the CA$445 million investment will include expansion projects that will add track in yards and new sidings. CN also will continue spending on multiyear initiatives to increase capacity at the Port of Vancouver and the Port of Prince Rupert in collaboration with the Canadian government, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and the Prince Rupert Port Authority.

CN will invest CA$305 million in Alberta and CA$235 million in Quebec this year to strengthen its rail network, the Class I announced last week.

In Alberta, capital expenditures will include expansion projects such as the construction of double track to allow more trains to pass on CN's mainline. The maintenance program will focus on the replacement of 71 miles of rail, installation of 210,000 new ties, rebuilding of 28 grade crossing surfaces, and maintenance work on bridges, culverts, signal systems and other track infrastructure.

CN announced yesterday that three vessels carrying Canadian propane destined for international markets departed from the AltaGas Ridley Island Propane Export Terminal in British Columbia, beating a previous record by 50 percent.

The Ridley Island terminal exclusively uses CN's network to transport propane from Alberta and British Columbia for export to global markets. Since it launched in 2019, the terminal has moved more than 1 million metric tons of propane, CN officials said in a press release.