Canadian National launches new focus on operations

Train with red locomotive approaching curve

BOSTON — Canadian National is taking a back-to-basics approach under new CEO Tracy Robinson. The first order of business is to improve the railway’s velocity, which since last fall has generally been running below 2020 and 2021 levels when measured by the average number of miles cars travel per day. “As we bring the schedule […]

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U.S. rail traffic dips slightly in first week of May

WASHINGTON – For the week ended May 7, U.S. rail traffic registered 504,927 carloads and intermodal units, a 3.5% decline over the same period in 2021. Figures from the Association of American Railroads show the total number of carloads at 231,737, down 1.9% over the same week in 2021, while intermodal volume was 273,190 containers […]

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CN criticized for lack of French-speaking board members

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OTTAWA, Ontario — Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra has criticized Canadian National Railway Co. for maintaining an English-speaking-only board of directors in a bilingual nation where 7.9 million citizens – 22% of the population – speak French as their first language. “It’s unacceptable that the board of directors does not have a francophone representative on […]

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Canadian regulators propose more detailed requirements for reporting railroad performance metrics

Canadian Pacific and Canadian National trains pass

OTTAWA, Ontario – Class I railroads operating in Canada would be required to report additional performance and staffing metrics under a proposal Canadian regulators unveiled on Friday. Transport Canada’s move was announced on the same day that the Surface Transportation Board said it will temporarily require the big railroads to provide more detailed operational and […]

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Track-repair error led to 2019 CN oil-train derailment

Diagram of derailment site in Canada showing location of tank cars and site of oil spill

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — A track-repair error led to a rail-joint failure, causing a 2019 derailment of a Canadian National oil train, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said in its summary of a report released Friday. The Feb. 16, 2019, accident near St-Lazare, Man., led to the derailment of 37 cars of a 110-car crude […]

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New CEO spells out priorities for Canadian National

Woman in black suit and white blouse standing near windows in high-rise

MONTREAL — New CEO Tracy Robinson likes what she sees at Canadian National. “As I sit here, 60 days in … I can tell you that I’m more excited about our prospects than when I first arrived,” Robinson told investors and analysts on the railway’s earnings call this week. “At CN, we have an incredible […]

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STB settles CP-KCS merger traffic data issue

Maroon, gray and yellow locomotive leading train

WASHINGTON – Federal regulators have ordered Canadian Pacific to resubmit specific traffic density data that will be used as part of its Kansas City Southern merger application. The Surface Transportation Board’s decision, issued on Wednesday, keeps review of the first Class I railroad merger in two decades on hold. CP must submit new baseline traffic density […]

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Outgoing CN CEO Ruest received major bonus in 2021

JJ Ruest

MONTREAL — Canadian National executives including now-departed CEO JJ Ruest received significant bonuses last year for the first time since 2018, the Globe and Mail reports. Ruest, who stepped down in January, received a $2.32 million bonus in 2021 as part of overall compensation totaling $13.55 million. A year earlier, his bonus had been $313,334. […]

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CN raises new train count data issues around CP-KCS merger

gray and blue passenger train passes next to red locomotive pulling freight train

WASHINGTON — Canadian National claims it has found additional train count inconsistencies in the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger application and related environmental filings. The Surface Transportation Board last month put review of the CP-KCS merger on hold until discrepancies in train density data could be sorted out. CP has provided the board with clarification […]

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