Select a Company and Location

In the Release Railcars page, select the Company for which you want to release railcars. You will only have access to companies as granted by CN. Then, select the Location where you want to release railcars. Press Go to see a list of all cars at that location.

Note: The first time that you access Release Railcars, you will be automatically directed to the Customized Station List page to select the stations where you will release railcars. From the Customized Station List page, you can drill down to select the tracks you would like to see for each selection station.

Select the Switch Date/Time

Once you have selected the company and location, identify the date/time when you want CN to pickup your railcars. The Switch Date/Time is shown to the right of the track name for each track that has cars available for release.

If you have only one switch date/time available, you will not need to make any selection. The switch date/time will be displayed.
If there is more than one switch date/time available, select the appropriate switch from the picklist that is displayed. By default, the next available switch is selected.
If you have no scheduled service, your cars will be picked up by CN at the next available time.

The cutoff represents the time when you can no longer release a railcar for the switch date/time shown.

Please ensure that all released railcars are ready to be pulled by the start of the selected switch window. In the event a car released to CN is not available at the time of pull due to any reason attributable to the shipper, a optional services charge will apply. Please see tariff CN 9000 for details.

Identify the Railcars to be Released

Once you have selected the desired switch date/time, identify railcars to be released by checking either the Empty (release empty) or Load (release loaded) checkbox next to the car. When necessary, indicate the Special Release Type.

To find a specific track, use the track links, located in the upper-middle of the Release Railcars page. Each link allows you to jump to that specific track on the page without having to scroll.

To find a specific railcar, use the Search Car tool, located in the upper-right hand side of the Release Railcars page. Enter the car initials and numbers and click Search. If found, the car initials and numbers will be highlighted.

Once you have selected the railcars to be released, press Submit to send your request to CN. To receive a confirmation of your request by e-mail, select the 'E-mail a copy of this request to...' checkbox.