Canadian National Railway Company, CN, announced that plans a USD 2.6 billion (CAD 3.2 billion) capital programme focusing on key capacity projects. They should meet the growing freight demand and a continuous investment in the infrastructure maintenance to enhance safety and efficiency.
“These record investments, a substantial portion of which will go to new capacity and growth projects, will improve our network fluidity, allowing us to deliver superior service to meet our customers’ growing freight volumes,” Luc Jobin, CN president said.
CN will invest USD 1.3 billion on track and railway infrastructure maintenance to support safe and efficient operations. The planned work includes the replacement of 2.1 million rail ties and more than 965 km of rail, plus work on bridges and other general track maintenance.
Approximately USD 322.8 million is expected to be spent on equipment, including the acquisition of new high horsepower locomotives. A further USD 645.7 million is targeted towards initiatives to increase capacity and enable growth, such as track infrastructure expansion, investments in yards and in intermodal terminals and on information technology to improve safety performance, operational efficiency and customer service.
Major capacity and equipment investments include sixty new GE locomotives, the first deliveries from a three-year order of 200 new units; double track and siding extensions in the West Coast to Chicago corridors and intermodal equipment and infrastructure in Toronto, Memphis, Tenn., Joliet, Ill., and other terminals.
In addition, USD 322.8 million will be invested on the implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) along 5630 route-km of company’s U.S. network. By 2020, the total PTC capital expenditures will reach USD 1.4 billion.
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