Railroad News

CN yesterday rolled out its 2019-20 winter plan, which explains how the Class I expects to serve its customers during extreme operating conditions.

CN's investments in infrastructure and equipment have increased the resiliency of its network, as well as the railroad's ability to recover during extreme operating conditions, CN officials said in a press release.

The Canadian government has appointed a special negotiator to work with CN on a plan to restore the over century-old Quebec Bridge in Quebec City.

The negotiator is Yvon Charest, former president and chief executive officer of iA Financial Group in Quebec City, federal officials said in a press release issued by Infrastructure Canada.

G3 last week marked the opening of its new high-efficiency grain elevator on a CN line in Maidstone, Saskatchewan.

Similar to the company's other modern grain elevators across western Canada, the new facility features fast truck-unloads and a railway loop track that can load a 150-car train, G3 officials said in a press release.

CN yesterday announced the publication of its 2019-2020 grain plan and the creation of its Agricultural Advisory Council.

The grain plan reviews CN's performance in the previous crop year, during which CN moved over 27.5 million metric tonnes of grain — a record for the Class I.

Ray-Mont Logistics announced this week the construction of a new facility for bagging plastic pellets for shipping out of Port of Prince Rupert in Vancouver, British Columbia.

When completed, the facility will improve the speed and efficiency of plastic pellet exports in containers for producers in Alberta that are served by CN, Ray-Mont officials said this week in a press release.

CN yesterday reported that it achieved record earnings, revenue and operating income for the second quarter.

Second-quarter revenue rose 9 percent to CA$3.96 billion over the year-ago period mainly due to the inclusion of The TransX Group in the intermodal commodity group, the impact of a weaker Canadian dollar, freight rate increases and higher petroleum crude and grain volumes, company officials said in a press release.

CN will rebuild the rail bridge over the Steen River in Alberta, with Imperial Oil and Suncor contributing funds to the reconstruction, the Class I announced yesterday.

The approaches on both ends of the 360-foot bridge will be rebuilt with concrete and steel and the bridge deck of the steel span across the river will be replaced. Construction should be completed by mid-August, CN officials said in a press release.

CN today announced its western Canadian grain movements in June exceeded 2.3 million metric tons (MMT) compared with 1.99 MMT in June 2018.

The cumulative tonnage moved by the railroad through 11 months of the 2018-19 crop year was on record pace at 25.5 MMT — 1 million tons ahead of the previous record-setting pace — despite the restrictions on Canadian exports to China, CN officials said in a press release. The three-year average of grain movements per month is 1.80 MMT.

CN officially marked its 100th anniversary last week.

Founded by an act of Parliament in Canada on June 6, 1919, CN evolved from a federal crown corporation for 75 years to a private railroad company in 1995. The Class I spans North America, from eastern to western Canada and the Gulf of Mexico.

The Quebec Port Authority (QPA) yesterday announced the signing of a long-term commercial agreement with Hutchison Ports and CN to build and operate a new container terminal known as project Laurentia.

The CA$775 million project will be financed through the joint investment of all three partners. In addition, the QPA is in discussions with federal and provincial governments to complete the financing, according to a QPA press release.