CN Rail has announced plans to acquire 1,500 new generation, high-capacity grain hopper cars with delivery starting in January of 2021. These new railcars will encourage economic recovery through job creation in the North American manufacturing sector, as well as help CN continue to meet the growing needs of grain farmers and grain customers, the… Read More
CN Rail will spend approximately $305 million across Alberta in 2020, including the construction of more double track on CN’s mainline. Included in the plan is a maintenance program that will focus on the replacement of rail and ties, as well as maintenance work on level crossings, bridges, culverts, signal systems, and other track infrastructure…. Read More
A tumultuous and trying winter grain shipping season is wrapping up on a much higher note, thanks to decent weather, resolved blockades, and fully-opened tracks. Sean Finn, executive vice-president of corporate services and chief legal officer for CN Rail, says that although the railway is taking extra precautions regarding COVID-19, the network is working well… Read More
Grain elevators in both western and eastern Canada are reporting delays in accessing containers to fill for overseas customers. Regular train traffic is catching up after a series of setbacks this winter — a strike, a rock slide on the western tracks, and then blockades — but container traffic is another beast entirely. Container traffic… Read More
Protesters standing in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en First Nation’s protest of the Coastal GasLink pipeline project have set up blockades in three provinces — Ontario, B.C., and now Manitoba — significantly impacting rail movement and precipitating CN Rail to cancel hundreds of train movements. Many in the agriculture industry are nervous about what this means for… Read More
Rail blockades near Belleville, Ont. and in northern B.C. in support of a B.C. oil pipeline standoff in Wet’suwet’en territory will soon begin to significantly impact CN Rail’s network if they’re not removed, the company says. CN Rail notes the blockades are unrelated to CN’s activities, however the Belleville line is CN’s only eastern link… Read More
The Canadian National Railway Company (CN) and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company (CP) will not have overage-related payouts or penalties due to falling below their respective maximum grain revenue entitlements for the 2018-19 crop year. The amount of western grain moved under the MRE program during 2018-19 was 46,060,737 tonnes, 13.4% more than the volume… Read More
In the week since the CN Railway strike ended, a top executive says they’re on the right track to get grain and other products moving as they once were. CN’s executive vice-president and corporate services and chief legal officer, Sean Finn, says although the strike meant setbacks, they were still able to move close to… Read More
A tentative deal between the Teamsters union and the over 3,000 rail workers it represents and CN Rail will mean that normal rail operations are set to resume as early as today. A news release sent mid-morning on Tuesday says: “I’m pleased to announce we’ve reached a tentative agreement with CN,” says Francois Laporte, president… Read More
Edit: CN Rail and the Teamsters union have reached a tentative agreement, effective November 26 With the CN Rail strike entering its second week, farmers continue to pressure the government to intervene and end the strike. Fresh off of the October election, many farmers are questioning whether Prime Minister Trudeau understand the gravity of the… Read More
With the rail strike starting a second week, the agriculture industry’s concern is rising beyond short-term impacts. CN Rail workers striking across the country means that the railways is down to a crawl in terms of productivity. How much is regular service impacted? A statement from CN Rail to RealAgriculture over the weekend says: “The 3,200… Read More
A spokesperson for CN Rail confirms that due to “adjusting its resources to demand,” CN has laid off approximately 1,600, including managers, office employees, and unionized rail workers . Those in a range of positions within the CN Rail network both in Canada and the U.S. will lose their job. According to CN, the layoffs… Read More
The Teamsters union that represents roughly 3,000 members of the Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) at Canadian National Railway Company (CN) says workers may be going on strike as soon as November. In September, conductors, train- and yard-workers voted 99.2 per cent in favour of strike action over its collective agreement that expired near the end… Read More
Those in the railway business are already starting to prepare for the winter months that lie ahead. As snowstorms hit parts of the Prairies in the last few weeks. some have wondered if that would put a strain on the movement of grain. David Przednowek, director of sales and marketing for CN Rail, says these… Read More
Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) and Canadian National Railway (CN) are reporting record breaking years for grain and grain product movement. CP moves 26.8MMT For the crop year ending July 31, 2019, Canadian Pacific (CP) moved a record 26.8 million metric tonnes (MMT) of Canadian grain and grain product. It’s a number that surpasses the company’s… Read More