CN Delivers Grain-Haul Record

CN on Oct. 24 reported that it hauled more than 806,000 metric tons of grain from Western Canada during the week of Oct. 16 (week 12 of the 2022-23 crop year). This exceeded the Class I railroad’s previous record by more than 50,000 metric tons.

CN said the record follows its “second-best September ever” for grain movement from Western Canada, with more 2.64 million metric tons moved.

“This performance shows what can get done when partners collaborate to create supply chain solutions to supply chain challenges,” CN Chief Marketing Office Doug MacDonald said. “We are very proud to have set a new record for the amount of Western Canadian grain moved in a single week. We are confident that our railroaders will continue delivering results for Canadian farmers and all of our customers.”

CN also reported the reopening of a CN branch line in Northern Alberta. When an Oct. 5 bridge fire shut down the line, CN’s Engineering team “worked around the clock, and a little over a week later,” grain, lumber and other products were back on the move. The team mobilized the equivalent of 20 Olympic-size swimming pools of material safely and without incident, the railroad said, to fill in where a bridge once stood.

In related news, CN over the summer published its 2022-23 Grain Plan, describing its “preparations for moving a western Canadian grain crop that is expected to rebound from last year’s drought-impacted levels.”