CN has announced plans to invest C$1.75 billion in 2012 to maintain and upgrade its railway network, support growth and productivity initiatives, and continue to provide customers with a high level of service.
Claude Mongeau, president and chief executive officer, said: CN is taking its business model to the next level with its focus on Operational and Service Excellence. We are making major strides in improving all customer service touch points, delivering innovative products and achieving end-to-end supply chain collaboration while continually improving productivity. CNs capital spending is critical to running a safe, fluid and productive network and to attaining our growth and service objectives.
More than C$1 billion of CNs 2012 capital investment program will be targeted on track infrastructure to maintain safe railway operations and to enhance the productivity and fluidity of the rail network. This includes replacement of rail, ties and other track materials and bridge improvements.
CNs infrastructure envelope also includes funds for initiatives such as rail-line and yard improvements on the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company that CN acquired in 2009, extended sidings along its Edmonton-Prince Rupert, B.C., corridor, and longer passing tracks in Northern Ontario.
Equipment spending, which is intended to improve the quality of the fleet and meet customer requirements, will include the acquisition of new freight cars and locomotive upgrading and is targeted to reach approximately C$150 million in 2012.
CN also expects to spend approximately C$500 million on various projects to take advantage of growth opportunities and to acquire information technology to support Operational and Service Excellence and other opportunities that enhance productivity.
CN Canadian National Railway Company and its operating railway subsidiaries spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key metropolitan areas of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information on CN, visit the companys website at www.cn.ca
