VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 20, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) said today it plans to invest approximately $345 million across British Columbia in 2019 to expand and strengthen the Company’s rail network throughout the province.

“Following a record capital program in 2018, CN has been able to take on more traffic from different commodity sectors based on contracts with our customers. This year, CN is planning to invest even more than last year to continue boosting capacity and network resiliency and to meet growing traffic on our corridors across B.C.,” said Doug Ryhorchuk, Vice-President of CN’s Western Region.

The B.C. investments are part of CN’s 2019 record $3.9-billion capital investment focused on enabling growth from all commodity segments, including consumer goods, grain, agricultural, forest, and energy products from all of our customers, safely and efficiently. Over two years, CN will have made a $7.4 billion capital investment.

“Our Standing Committee on Transportation, Infrastructure and Community just completed an interim report on the trade corridor in Metro Vancouver and, given the growth in trade we expect through Canada’s new trade agreements, it will be vital that all component parts of our transport network make the strategic, coordinated investments needed to serve our customers at home and overseas.  CN is a key part of our network, and their capital investments are valuable and timely,” said Ken Hardie, Member of Parliament for Fleetwood–Port Kells.

CN is currently deploying important safety enhancing technologies across its network, such as the Autonomous Track Inspection Program, Distributed Air Cars and Automated Inspection Portals. These innovations, combined with CN’s investments in locomotives, capacity, infrastructure, and train crews, will support the safe and efficient movement of our customers’ goods to their end markets.

“Prince George City Council wishes to express its sincere appreciation to CN for this important investment into the safety and security of railway service in Prince George and across the province. Prince George is a hub city at the confluence of rivers, roads, highways, and rails, thus investments in rail near Prince George directly benefit and enhance our city,“ said Lyn Hall, Mayor of Prince George. “Prince George is also a centre that provides supplies and services to most of the northern half of B.C., so the health of our railway system is critical to our current and future success. Our city greatly values our relationship with CN and looks forward to continuing our successful partnership long into the future.”

Planned expansion projects that will improve traffic fluidity in the Port of Prince Rupert and Port of Vancouver areas include:

• Construction of a new train passing siding in Port Edward;
• Construction of 2.5 miles of double track west of Prince George; and,
• Multi-year initiatives to increase capacity at the Port of Vancouver in collaboration with the Government of Canada and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.

Maintenance program highlights include:             

• Replacement of approximately 115 miles of rail;
• Installation of more than 210,000 new railroad ties;
• Rebuilds of 38 road crossing surfaces; and,
• Other maintenance work on culverts, signal systems and additional track infrastructure.

CN’s B.C. rail network serves the West Coast gateways of Vancouver and Prince Rupert and major inland terminals in Surrey, Prince George, Kamloops, and Fort Nelson.

British Columbia in numbers:

• Capital investments: More than $1.2 billion in the last five years
• Employees: approximately 2,550
• Railroad route miles operated: 2,806
• Community partnerships: $888,000 in 2018
• Local spending: $503 million in 2018
• Total taxes paid by CN: $179 million in 2018

Forward-looking statements
Certain statements included in this news release constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and under Canadian securities laws. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company cautions that its assumptions may not materialize and that current economic conditions render such assumptions, although reasonable at the time they were made, subject to greater uncertainty. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of terminology such as “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “assumes,” “outlook,” “plans,” “targets,” or other similar words.

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results or performance of the Company to be materially different from the outlook or any future results or performance implied by such statements. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Important risk factors that could affect the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the effects of general economic and business conditions; industry competition; inflation, currency and interest rate fluctuations; changes in fuel prices; legislative and/or regulatory developments; compliance with environmental laws and regulations; actions by regulators; increases in maintenance and operating costs; security threats; reliance on technology and related cybersecurity risk; trade restrictions or other changes to international trade arrangements; transportation of hazardous materials; various events which could disrupt operations, including natural events such as severe weather, droughts, fires, floods and earthquakes; climate change; labor negotiations and disruptions; environmental claims; uncertainties of investigations, proceedings or other types of claims and litigation; risks and liabilities arising from derailments; timing and completion of capital programs; and other risks detailed from time to time in reports filed by CN with securities regulators in Canada and the United States. Reference should be made to Management’s Discussion and Analysis in CN’s annual and interim reports, Annual Information Form and Form 40-F, filed with Canadian and U.S. securities regulators and available on CN’s website, for a description of major risk factors.

Forward-looking statements reflect information as of the date on which they are made. CN assumes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect future events, changes in circumstances, or changes in beliefs, unless required by applicable securities laws. In the event CN does update any forward-looking statement, no inference should be made that CN will make additional updates with respect to that statement, related matters, or any other forward-looking statement.

CN is a true backbone of the economy, transporting more than C$250 billion worth of goods annually for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail network of approximately 20,000 route-miles spanning Canada and mid-America. CN – Canadian National Railway Company, along with its operating railway subsidiaries – serves the cities and ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information about CN, visit the Company’s website at www.cn.ca.