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Rail News Home Canadian National Railway - CN 10/11/2022 Rail News: Canadian National Railway - CN
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) has awarded two grants to the village of Wrightstown to help fund rail spurs that will connect two manufacturing plants to a CN line, state officials announced last week.WisDOT awarded a $500,000 Transportation Economic Assistance (TEA) grant to help fund reconstruction of a 4,175-foot rail spur system for Drexel Systems LLC to connect to an existing CN line. When completed, the spur will support the movement of lumber from the Pacific Northwest and Canada."This [rail spur] will assist Drexel in keeping its cost of goods competitive and bring high-quality raw building materials directly into the manufacturing facility," said Drexel Building Supply President Joel Fleischman in a press release.WisDOT also awarded a $400,000 TEA grant to help fund a 1,384-foot rail spur to connect Alliance Plastics Inc. to an existing CN line, which will support the movement of raw materials to the company’s facility from other states and Canada.The spur will help Alliance Plastics “dramatically” reduce the number of inbound over-the-road deliveries to the plant, said company President Troy Wolf."It also allows our company to purchase our raw materials in larger quantities and store more material onsite, allowing us to be more competitive in our industry space," Wolf said.Since 2019, Wisconsin’s TEA program has awarded 20 grants totaling more than $9 million to support transportation improvements linked to business development projects, state officials said.The Wrightstown rail spurs “will not only create and retain jobs in our manufacturing industry, but they will also improve and bolster our state’s transportation infrastructure, expanding opportunities for Wisconsin industries to grow and succeed for years to come,” said Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.

Rail News Home Canadian National Railway - CN 10/4/2022 Rail News: Canadian National Railway - CN
CN yesterday released its "2022-2023 Winter Plan," which describes how the Class I will ensure it has the capacity and resources to respond to customers' needs during the coming winter months.Initiatives called for in the plan include:• People. CN’s overall employee count increased by 850 people as of June 30, compared to Jan. 1, primarily in the operating crew ranks. Five hundred additional conductors will graduate through the end of 2022. Rail operating managers who are rules-qualified will be available to protect rail traffic movement and support operations during challenging winter operating conditions.• Locomotives. CN acquired an incremental 57 high-horsepower locomotives, bringing the inventory of high- and mid-horsepower locomotives to 1,950.• Rolling stock. Eight hundred new boxcars will be delivered in early 2023 and 500 high-efficiency hopper cars will be delivered during the 2022-23 crop year.• Planning. CN has implemented scheduled slots for bulk unit trains in key corridors to increase rail capacity and velocity.• Technology. Acoustic bearing detectors deployed at five locations across the network will reduce failures online. CN’s third-generation automated track inspection program fleet cars were launched in advance of this winter, reducing risks of rail-related incidents."Since joining CN in March, I have focused our team on servicing our customers' needs by getting back to basics," said CN CEO Tracy Robinson in a press release. "This means running a scheduled operation, aligning capacity with demand and working closely with our customers and stakeholders to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of the full supply chain. This plan reflects that focus."