rail
 
MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA — Canadian National Railway (CN) is continuing to invest in Canada’s rail infrastructure with two new commitments to strengthen the company’s rail network in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

The C$30 million in New Brunswick, part of CN’s overall capital program in 2018, will focus on the replacement, upgrade and maintenance of track infrastructure. Planned capital work in New Brunswick will support network safety and efficiency through:

  • Installation of about 20 miles of new rail
  • Installation of more than 50,000 railroad ties
  • Rebuilds of road crossing surfaces and maintenance work on bridges, culverts, signal systems and other track infrastructure.

“We are again investing across New Brunswick to support a safe and fluid railway network,” said Michael Farkouh, vice-president of CN’s Eastern region.

CN’s New Brunswick rail network spans the province transporting consumer goods and other intermodal traffic to Moncton and reaches the ports of Saint John and Belledune.

The investment in Novia Scotia includes C$10 million, which also will focus on the replacement, upgrade and maintenance of track infrastructure. The investment plan includes:

  • Installation of 6 miles of new rail
  • Installation of more than 2,100 railroad ties
  • Rebuilds of road crossing surfaces and maintenance work on bridges, culverts, signal systems and other track infrastructure.
Doug Ryhorchuk VP of Western Region for CN
Michael Farkouh, vice-president of CN’s Eastern region

“CN remains committed to investing for the long haul to raise the bar on service for our customers across the province and North America, while continuing to strengthen our infrastructure in support of our unwavering commitment to railway safety,” Farkouh said.

CN’s Nova Scotia rail network connects the Port of Halifax container terminals with markets in central Canada and the U.S. Midwest and accesses CN’s Autoport facility that handles vehicles for distribution across North America and to Newfoundland.

The investment plan comes after the company’s recent announcement to also invest across the company’s rail network in British Colombia, Alberta, Québec and Saskatchewan.

Across its network, CN continues to invest in trade-enabling infrastructure and equipment. In May, CN said it plans to acquire 1,000 Canadian built, new generation high-cube grain hopper cars over the next two years to rejuvenate the aging equipment needed to serve increasing annual crop yields. In June, CN will take delivery of the first of 60 new GE locomotives due in service in 2018. The balance of a multi-year, 200-unit order will be brought online in 2019 and 2020.

The update to CN’s transportation cars comes after the Canadian government  approved a bill on May 23 that includes provisions to make grain transportation by rail more efficient.

Canada’s wide-ranging Transportation Modernization Act is intended to help grains and other crops move more quickly to market after a winter in which CN and Canadian Pacific (CP) Railway Ltd. struggled to ship harvested grain in a timely manner.