CN to purchase hundreds of grain cars as transportation bill becomes law
MONTREAL — Canadian National Railway is preparing to purchase hundreds of new grain hopper cars to get shipments moving after a bill that encourages railways to make investments to avert service disruptions became law Wednesday.
CN Rail expects to buy new grain cars to replace some 200 to 300 that are replaced annually, its chief financial officer told an investor conference Wednesday morning, before the bill that imposes financial penalties on railway companies received royal assent.
Ghislaine Houle explained that the company was waiting on the passage of the omnibus bill to go out and buy the cars.
The wide-ranging Transportation Modernization Act includes financial penalties for railways that fail to deliver promised rail cars for grain shipments on time. It also requires railways to publicly report each summer on their abilities to move that year’s grain crop, and to publish by Oct. 1 each year a winter contingency plan for keeping shipments moving regardless of bad weather.