CN Investing $165 Million in Illinois

HOMEWOOD, Ill., July 28, 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 $165 million (USD) across Illinois in 2020. The investments will focus on the Chicago St Charles Airline Bridge renewal as well as the replacement of rail and ties and 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 Illinois are a key part of our strategy to support growth. The Company remains committed to help enable supply chains that fuel Illinois’ 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

“Sustained long term investment in our infrastructure is something every part of our country needs. Illinois has been blessed with freight rail partners, like CN, who year after year contribute hundreds of millions of dollars of private investment in our state. CN surpassing $1.3 billion in private CAPEX in Illinois alone over the last five years has set the foundation for the quick economic recovery we all seek.”

  -      Mike Hastings, Illinois State Senator, the 19th Senate District includes portions of Cook and Will Counties, home to many communities at the core of CN’s Illinois network.

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 9 miles of rail
• Installation of over 180,000 new railroad ties
• Rebuilds of 45 road crossing surfaces
• Maintenance work on bridges, culverts, signal systems, and other track infrastructure

Illinois in numbers:

• Capital investments: More than $1,3 billion in the last five years
• Employees: approximately 1,825
• Railroad route miles operated: 1,253
• Community partnerships: $247,000 in 2019
• Local spending: $1 billion in 2019
• Cash taxes paid: $35 million in 2019

Illinois is CN’s largest state in terms of operations and employees. CN’s routes from throughout North America converge in Chicago. Homewood, a Chicago suburb, is home to CN’s U.S. headquarters and a modern training centre. CN Campus is focused on instilling and reinforcing a strong safety culture. In 2019, nearly 3,000 experienced railroaders, new hires and customers received a complete range of hands-on technical training.

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 .