CN targets C$1.7 billion in 2011 capital investments to maintain and improve its network and grow the business
Company investment in infrastructure, equipment and technology helps economic growth in Canada and the United States
MONTREAL, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ - CN (TSX: CNR)(NYSE: CNI) announced today plans to invest C$1.7 billion in 2011 to maintain a safe and fluid railway network, to grow the business efficiently and to continue to provide customers with a high level of service.
Claude Mongeau, president and chief executive officer, said: "CN is focused on running a safe, sustainable railway and growing our business profitably at low incremental cost. We are pursuing this agenda through infrastructure investments, strengthening ties with our customers, and innovative service improvements. Our service innovations include 'first-mile/last-mile' initiatives that respond to customer needs at origin and destination, and supply chain collaboration that emphasizes an end-to-end view of service quality.
"CN's capital spending program is critical to these safety, growth and service objectives. In the last five years, CN spent almost C$8 billion on capital improvements. Such investments serve to build a quality network that, in turn, supports economic growth across Canada and the United States."
Approximately C$1 billion of CN's 2011 capital investment program will be targeted on track infrastructure to maintain safe railway operations and to improve the productivity and fluidity of its rail network. This includes replacement of rail, ties and other track materials and bridge improvements, as well as rail-line improvements on the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company (EJ&E) that CN acquired in 2009. The EJ&E addresses the "missing link" for CN in Chicago, connecting its five rail lines entering the city; full integration of the EJ&E will result in improved reliability and service.
CN's infrastructure envelope includes funds for strategic initiatives across the system and additional network improvements in western and eastern Canada.
Equipment spending, which is intended to improve the quality of the fleet to meet customer requirements and includes the acquisition of new fuel-efficient locomotives as well as new freight cars, is targeted to reach approximately C$200 million in 2011.
CN also expects to spend approximately C$500 million on facilities to grow the business, including transloads and distribution centers to serve off-line customers; new information technology to support operational and service excellence and other projects to increase productivity.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information included in this news release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and under Canadian securities laws. CN cautions that, by their nature, these 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. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results of performance of the Company or the rail industry to be materially different from the outlook or any future results or performance implied by such statements.
Important risk factors that could affect the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the effects of general economic and business conditions, industry competition, inflation, currency and interest rate fluctuations, changes in fuel prices, legislative and/or regulatory developments, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, actions by regulators, various events which could disrupt operations, including natural events such as severe weather, droughts, floods and earthquakes, labor negotiations and disruptions, environmental claims, uncertainties of investigations, proceedings or other types of claims and litigation, risks and liabilities arising from derailments, and other risks detailed from time to time in reports filed by CN with securities regulators in Canada and the United States. 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, available on CN's website, for a summary of major risks.
CN assumes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect future events, changes in circumstances, or changes in beliefs, unless required by applicable Canadian securities laws. In the event CN does update any forward-looking statement, no inference should be made that CN will make additional updates with respect to that statement, related maters, or any other forward-looking statement.
CN - Canadian National Railway Company and its operating railway subsidiaries - spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key metropolitan areas of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, St. Louis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information on CN, visit the company's website at www.cn.ca.
SOURCE CN
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