CN Investing $105 Million in Saskatchewan
July 08 2020 - 9:00AM
CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) announced today that, as part of its
strategic investments to support growing demand and enable supply
chains, it plans to invest approximately $105 million (CAD) across
Saskatchewan in 2020. The investments will focus on the replacement
of rail and ties, as well as the maintenance of bridges, level
crossings, culverts, signal systems and other track infrastructure.
“We take our essential role in the North
American economy seriously and these investments in Saskatchewan
are a key part of our strategy to support growth. The Company
remains committed to help enable supply chains that fuel
Saskatchewan’s growth as we are a critical part of getting everyday
goods to markets and consumers. Safety is a core value at CN and by
investing in the maintenance and expansion of our track and
capacity, we are providing customers with a safe and reliable
solution at a time when fluid supply chains are more critical than
ever.” - James Thompson, Vice-President, Western Region at CN
“Remaining committed to supporting Canadian
businesses, our government continues to invest in Canada’s economy
to encourage economic growth. We are pleased to see companies such
as CN do their share by investing in improving safety, growing its
capacity and enabling trade through a safe and reliable rail
network. As Canadian grain exports from Saskatchewan continue to
set new records, farmers need dependable and fluid networks to keep
their goods moving to international markets and these investments
support that need.”- The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of
Transport, Government of Canada
“The Government of Saskatchewan is pleased to
see this large capital investment from CN. These projects will help
our producers and manufacturers get their products to market,
secure our supply chain, and support Saskatchewan’s strong growth
in the years ahead.”- The Honourable Greg Ottenbreit, Minister of
Highways and Infrastructure, Government of Saskatchewan
The Company’s investments will create greater
capacity, which supports reductions in its customer’s
transportation supply chain GHG emissions, by encouraging the use
of rail for long haul needs. This reduces emissions, traffic
congestion, accidents and burdens on public transportation
infrastructure as one freight train can replace over 300 trucks
from roads. Moving freight by rail instead of truck reduces GHG
emissions by 75%. The Company will continue to deploy
important safety enhancing technologies across its network, such as
the Autonomous.
Track Inspection Program, Distributed Air Cars
and Automated Inspection Portals. Planned expansion projects
include continued investments to multi-year infrastructure in
southern Saskatchewan.
Maintenance program highlights include:
- Replacement of more than 65 miles of rail
- Installation of over 145,000 new railroad ties
- Rebuilds of 12 road crossing surfaces
- Maintenance work on bridges, culverts, signal systems, and
other track infrastructure
Saskatchewan in numbers:
- Capital investments: More than $850 million in the last five
years
- Employees: approximately 1,154
- Railroad route miles operated: 1,946
- Community partnerships: $416,000 in 2019
- Local spending: $136 million in 2019
- Cash taxes paid: $107 million in 2019
Grains and fertilizers, especially potash, make
up a substantial portion of the traffic handled by CN in this
Prairie province. The traffic also reflects the increasing
diversification of the Saskatchewan economy by handling growing
volumes of consumer goods and specialty crops through CN’s
intermodal terminals in Saskatoon and Canada’s first privately
operated intermodal terminal located in the Chuka Creek Business
Park in Regina. Both Saskatoon and Regina boast metals distribution
facilities. Saskatoon also has an automotive distribution facility
and a major rail classification yard. In Bienfait, there is a
CargoFlo bulk handling facility as well as forest products and
metals distribution centres. Finally, in North Battleford, there is
an additional forest products distribution centre.
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. 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.
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.
Contacts: |
Media |
|
Investors |
Jonathan Abecassis |
|
Paul Butcher |
Senior Manager |
|
Vice-President |
Media Relations |
|
Investor Relations |
514-399-7956 |
|
514-399-0052 |
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