CN'S MERGER SHIFTS THE RAIL AXIS.(Canadian National Railway Co.)(Brief Article)

0 Comments | Alberta Report, January, 2000 | by BYFIELD, MIKE

* Freight volumes moving north-south are rising by 10% to 15% per year; vastly outpacing the 2% to 3% annual increase in Canada's west-east tonnage. Yet this country's railways have historically linked east to west--the National Dream. That vision was unexpectedly rearranged December 20, when a marriage was announced by Canadian National Railway Co. and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. The combined operation will be the continent's largest railway, with 80,000 kilometres of track, 67,000 employees, annual revenue of $18.5 billion and a total share value of about $28 billion.

"This is not an Americanization of CN," Paul Tellier, president of the Montreal-based railway, told reporters. Rather, he called it North Americanization, a "combining" which will allow...