Railroad News

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 yesterday and today continued to roll out its 2020 capital expenditure budgets for various states, including $125 million targeted for infrastructure projects in Illinois, $35 million in Iowa, $30 million in Tennessee and $25 million in Minnesota.

In Illinois, CN's investments will focus on replacing the St. Charles Air Line Bridge over the Chicago River in Chicago. In addition, the Class I will replace 9 miles of rail, install over 180,000 new ties, rebuild 45 grade crossing surfaces and perform maintenance work on bridges, culverts, signal systems and other track infrastructure.

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.

CN yesterday posted "solid" first-quarter 2020 financial and operating results, despite experiencing rail blockades and the start of a global pandemic and recession during the period.

The Class I reported revenue remained flat at CA$3.5 billion during the quarter compared with the year-ago period. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) rose 31 percent to CA$1.42, while adjusted diluted EPS increased 4 percent to CA$1.22, compared with Q1 2019.

CN announced today that it has started calling back most of its employees who were temporarily laid off in Eastern Canada because of protest blockades on its rail lines over the past few weeks.

The employees are being called back to work in the absence of significant blockades on its network over the past four days, CN officials said in a press release.