Comprehensive Plan guided by four objectives: operating safely, delivering the best possible service, increasing network productivity, and improving resilience

MONTREAL, Oct. 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) today published its 2022-2023 Winter Plan. The Plan sets out a wide range of initiatives to ensure CN has the capacity and resources to respond safely and efficiently to the needs of customers in the coming winter months.

“Since joining CN in March, I have focused our team on servicing our customers’ needs by getting back to basics. 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. It reviews core aspects of CN’s operations: how safety and greater efficiency work together; how we plan with customers to deliver service during winter on a sector-by-sector basis; how we invest to improve productivity; and, how we mobilize people and resources to enhance the resilience of our network. The steps outlined in this plan will help ensure a more efficient and resilient CN network and an increasingly reliable and resilient supply chain.”

• Tracy Robinson, chief executive officer, CN
  

Highlights of New Initiatives

• People: CN’s overall employee count increased by 850 people as of the end of June, compared to the the beginning of the year, primarily in the Company’s operating crew ranks. 500 additional new 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 has acquired an incremental 57 high-horsepower locomotives. This brings CN’s inventory of high- and mid-horsepower locomotives to approximately 1,950 locomotives.
• Rolling Stock: 800 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.
  

For more information on CN’s Winter Plan, Please download the complete plan here.

About CN
CN is a world-class transportation leader and trade-enabler. Essential to the economy, to the customers, and to the communities it serves, CN safely transports more than 300 million tons of natural resources, manufactured products, and finished goods throughout North America every year. As the only railroad connecting Canada’s Eastern and Western coasts with the U.S. South through a 18,600-mile rail network, CN and its affiliates have been contributing to community prosperity and sustainable trade since 1919. CN is committed to programs supporting social responsibility and environmental stewardship.

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