Railroad News

Long-term shareholders CIFF Capital UK LP and The Children's Investment Master Fund, acting by their investment manager TCI Fund Management Ltd., yesterday confirmed they will nominate four independent directors to CN's board at the company's special meeting of shareholders on March 22, 2022.

Those candidates are:
• Gilbert Lamphere, a railroad executive with 40 years of experience in the industry. Lamphere has been a board member of several public and private railroad companies.
• Allison Landry, currently an independent director on the board of XPO Logistics Inc. Landry previously spent 16 years as an equity research analyst at Credit Suisse specializing in the railroad, trucking, airfreight and logistics industries.
• Rob Knight, former chief financial officer of Union Pacific Railroad, a position he held for 15-years. During Knight's 40-year tenure at UP, he held a variety of senior executive positions, including general manager of the company's energy and automotive businesses.
• Paul Miller, an expert in transportation, logistics, safety management and regulatory affairs and a former executive at CN from 1978-2011. During his 33-year career at the company, Miller held leadership roles in operations, marketing and planning. He retired as CN's vice president of safety, sustainability and network transportation in 2011.

The American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) recently named CN the winner of the 2021 Dr. William W. Hay Award for Excellence for the New McComb Bonnet Carre Spillway Bridge project in Louisiana.

The award honors the memory of William Walter Hay, a longtime AREMA contributor and professor of railway civil engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Each year, the association bestows the award to projects that best illustrate safety, innovation and service performance reliability.

CN has published its 2021-2022 winter plan to explain how its employees and equipment will be prepared to reduce the impact of harsh weather conditions for customers, while ensuring the safety and effectiveness of its operations.

The plan, which is required by provisions of the Canada Transportation Act, was developed in consultation and collaboration with customers and stakeholders, CN officials said in the press release.

CN today announced the details of its strategic and financial value creation plan, which the Class I said is designed to allow the company to continue delivering high-quality service to customers while generating profitable growth and enhanced returns to shareholders.

The plan builds on CN’s January 2021 strategic plan to lead on safety, customer value, operational excellence, sustainability and social inclusion, while also delivering industry-leading shareholder returns, CN officials said in a press release.

CN announced today that Kansas City Southern has provided notice of termination of the previously announced May 21, 2021, definitive merger agreement with CN.

The notice was provided after the KCS board determined on Sept. 12 that an updated acquisition proposal from Canadian Pacific was "superior" to CN’s offer to merge with KCS. Today, CP and KCS announced they have entered into a merger agreement, under which CP has agreed to acquire KCS in a stock and cash transaction representing an enterprise value of approximately $31 billion, which includes the assumption of $3.8 billion of outstanding KCS debt.

TCI Fund Management Ltd., one of CN's largest shareholders, has formally started a proxy fight to replace the Class I’s chief executive officer and some board members over the failed attempt to acquire Kansas City Southern.

TCI, which owns a 5% state in CN and opposed the railroad’s proposed merger with KCS, yesterday announced it is calling for a special meeting of CN shareholders for the purpose of adding four new members to the board who will "provide the deep railroad experience the current board lacks," according to a TCI press release.

CN will make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for all its employees in Canada as of Nov. 1. 

CN's vaccination policy will apply to all employees and new hires in Canada, as well as to CN's wholly owned subsidiaries, according to a CN news release.

TCI Fund Management Ltd. has retained Kingsdale Advisors to act as strategic adviser and engage with CN's shareholders to achieve TCI's objectives of halting CN's pursuit of Kansas City Southern and upgrading its board.

One of CN's largest shareholders, TCI will pursue new board members who, among other things, will have a mandate to identify and appoint a new chief executive officer of CN, TCI officials said in a press release.

Parrish & Heimbecker (P&H) is planning upgrades to its facilities in Quill Lake, Saskatchewan. 

P&H will be increasing its existing 50-car spot to accommodate 100 rail cars from CN in one spot. This upgrade will allow the company to clear twice as much grain out of the facility, according to a news release.

CN yesterday reported second-quarter financial and operating results, including a 13% increase in revenue ton miles (RTMs) year over year and volume growth in virtually every business unit, with notable strength in industrial products, international and domestic intermodal, and propane.

The Class I posted Q2 operating income of CA $1.4 billion, an increase of 76%, or 9% on an adjusted basis, compared with the same period in 2020. Revenue climbed 12% to CA$3.6 billion. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) rose 90% to CA$1.46, and adjusted diluted EPS increased 16% to CA$1.49.

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.