CN investing $1.5 billion in 2008

Railway Age, April, 2008

CN has announced a capital investment program of $1.5 billion for 2008, of which $1.1 billion will be plowed into track infrastructure improvements.

About $140 million is earmarked to buy new fuel-efficient locomotives and to improve the existing fleet. CN also plans to invest $250 million in capacity and productivity improvements, including transloads and distribution centers and information technology to sharpen efficiency. Not included in the $1.5 billion program is CN's plan to spend $400 million to acquire and improve the principal lines of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern, which is now under environmental review at the Surface Transportation Board.

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CN's planned investment in track infrastructure improvements will be divided among its lines in Western Canada ($430 million), Eastern Canada ($300 million), and the U.S. ($300 million). The western program will include improvements to CN's line to the new Port of Prince Rupert container terminal as well as upgrading its recently purchased Athabasca Northern Railway; a link to the booming oil sands region of Northern Alberta. CN will also continue to upgrade other former Northern Alberta short lines purchased in 2006. In the Eastern Region, improvements will include the continuing rcconfiguration of MacMillan yard north of Toronto, the largest car classification yard on the CN system. Improvements in the Southern Region (the U.S.) will include completion of the $100 million upgrade of Johnson Yard in Memphis.

CN said it plans to "make its spending work harder in 2008," adding: "Day-to-day rail inspection and maintenance programs will also benefit from the rollout of the first phase of CN's Precision Engineering program. The mobile container system at the heart of this initiative will help CN manage engineering processes more efficiently, reduce engineering related delays to trains, improve labor efficiency as a result of better information availability, and increase material and machine utilization."