Canadian National’s chief transportation officer leaves railroad NEWSWIRE

MONTREAL — Canadian National’s chief transportation officer, who was responsible for day-to-day operations on the 19,600-mile system, has left the railway.

John Orr, who joined CN in 1985 as a conductor and rose through the ranks, was named senior vice president and chief transportation officer in August 2018 as one of a number of appointments announced less than a month after Jean-Jacques Ruest became chief executive officer.

CN declined to comment on Orr’s departure.

But Orr is not listed as a member of the executive team on a Feb. 1 annual regulatory filing and as of Feb. 6 he was no longer listed among the company’s officers on the CN website. And multiple sources familiar with the matter say Orr has departed.

In announcing Orr’s appointment as chief transportation officer — a new position that reports to Mike Cory, CN’s chief operating officer — the railway said that Orr’s job was to “push network velocity, drive cost leadership, and increase production in gross ton-miles.”

CN’s key operating metrics have been steadily improving as the railway added track capacity, crews, and locomotives to its congested corridor across western Canada, particularly the key segment between Edmonton, Alberta, and Winnipeg, Manitoba.

CN has not filled the chief transportation officer position since Orr’s departure.

Orr, 54, was based in Homewood, Ill., where he had previously served as senior vice president of CN’s Southern Region since April 2015.

He was named assistant general manager of MacMillan Yard in Toronto in 2005, and named general manager of the yard a year later. In 2007 he became general manager of the Prairie Sub-region and was named assistant vice president of operations BC South in Vancouver in April 2009.

In September 2011, he was promoted to vice president, chief safety and sustainability officer. In March 2013 Orr became vice president of CN’s Eastern Region.

Operating executives with Precision Scheduled Railroading experience are in high demand in the U.S., where Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, and Kansas City Southern are adopting the operating model of the late E. Hunter Harrison, who led CN, Canadian Pacific, and CSX Transportation.

Former CN and CP officials are leading or are heavily involved in PSR efforts at NS, UP, and KCS.