CN Investing $100 Million in Wisconsin

HOMEWOOD, Ill., July 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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 $100 million (USD) across Wisconsin in 2020. The investments will focus on a new auto compound in New Richmond, maintenance of vessels, replacement of rail and ties, as well as 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 Wisconsin are a key part of our strategy to support growth. The Company remains committed to help enable supply chains that fuel Wisconsin’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.”

      -    Derek Taylor, Vice-President, Eastern Region at CN

“It’s great to hear that CN Railroad is once again investing more than $100 million in infrastructure improvements to its rail network in the Badger State. It’s a strong sign of faith in the Wisconsin and US economies. Sustained private investment in sectors like freight railroads will be essential to the state’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

      -    Robin Vos, Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly

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.

Maintenance program highlights include:

• Replacement of more than 9 miles of rail
• Installation of over 60,000 new railroad ties
• Rebuilds of 48 road crossing surfaces
• Maintenance work on facilities, culverts, signal systems, and other track infrastructure

Wisconsin in numbers:

• Capital investments: approximately $970 million in the last five years
• Employees: approximately 1,413
• Railroad route miles operated: 1,428
• Community partnerships: $165,000 in 2019
• Local spending: $240 million in 2019
• Cash taxes paid: $21 million in 2019

CN serves many local producers and general merchandise customers in Wisconsin, most notably from Milwaukee and Green Bay on Lake Michigan. CN also have intermodal terminals in Chippewa Falls and Arcadia. Since 2001, CN has invested over US$1 billion in infrastructure upgrades on its Wisconsin network to help create safe, efficient and competitive supply chain connections for our customers.

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 .