News photo: CN’s new CEO hits the rails

Passenger train passes station

WOODSTOCK, Ontario — A Canadian National executive special carrying new CEO Tracy Robinson and other managers passes through Woodstock, Ontario, this morning (Thursday, April 7). The train with two locomotives and four business cars is en route from Brampton Intermodal Terminal, near Toronto, to Chicago. It is expected to pass through Michigan and arrive in […]

Read More…

Five members reappointed to VIA Rail Canada board

VIA Rail Canada logo

OTTAWA — Canada’s Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra, has reappointed five members of the VIA Rail Canada board of directors. Reappointed were chairwoman Francoise Bertrand of Montreal, for a term of 18 months; directors Jonathan Franklin Goldbloom (Montreal) and Gail Louise Stephens (Victoria, British Columbia), for four-year terms; Naella-Kathy Baig of Montreal, for three years; […]

Read More…

CN to work with Port of Montreal on new container terminal

Canadian National logo

MONTREAL — The Montreal Port Authority and Canadian National will work together to develop rail facilities at the port’s new Contrecœur container terminal, the port and railroad have announced. Along with the private firm that will build and operate the terminal, the railroad and port develop the technical aspects of the intermodal facility. A CN […]

Read More…

Rail issues lead to cutbacks by Canadian forest products company

Logo of forest products company Canfor

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Forest products company Canfor will cut production at sawmills in Western Canada because of “extreme supply chain challenges” relating to rail service, the news site Business in Vancouver reports. Subsidiary Canfor Pulp Produces had previously announced it would continue to curtail production at its plant in Taylor, B.C., for at least […]

Read More…

Safety board issues findings and recommendations after probe of fatal CP runaway (Updated)

Locomotive surrounded by cars from derailment

CALGARY, Alberta — The degradation of air brakes in extreme cold, the limited effectiveness of current train brake tests, and inadequate training and experience of supervisory personnel contributed to the 2019 Canadian Pacific grain train runaway and derailment that killed three crew members in British Columbia’s Kicking Horse Pass. That’s the conclusion of the Transportation […]

Read More…

Manitoba announces plan for rail park at inland port

Aerial illustration of rail park near Winnipeg

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The Province of Manitoba has announced an agreement with a major real estate developer for a 665-acre, rail-served industrial park as part of an existing inland port. Focus Equities Inc. will build the CentrePort Canada Rail Park as part of the 20,000-acre CentrePort Canada in the Rural Municipality of Rosser, northwest of […]

Read More…

Completion of Lac-Mégantic bypass to be delayed

Map of Lac-Megantic Bypass

LAC-MÉGANTIC, Quebec — The Lac-Mégantic bypass will not be completed by its 2023 target date after the Canadian government extended the period for negotiations with landowners, Omar Alghabra, Canada’s transport minister, has announced. In a March 24 statement, Alghabra said the negotiation period has been extended until Aug. 12, 2022, at the request of the […]

Read More…

Track defect went unrepaired before CN derailment, investigation finds

Photo of track with notations on derailment details

GATINEAU, Quebec — A “near-urgent” track defect was detected but not repaired several days prior to the June 2021 derailment of a Canadian National train at a remote location on the railroad’s Chetwynd Subdivision in British Columbia, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said in an investigation report released Monday. Thirty-eight cars of a two-engine, […]

Read More…

Toronto Railway Museum receives $50,000 grant

Logo of Toronto Railway Museum

TORONTO — The Toronto Railway Museum has received a $50,000 Community Building Fund grant from the Government of Ontario and the Ontario Trillium Foundation, helping the museum to continue to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding is being used to assist with audiovisual equipment and operating costs to improve the museum’s online program, including development […]

Read More…