CNR Canadian National Railway Company

WINNIPEG, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ - Claude Mongeau, president and chief executive officer of CN (TSX: CNR)(NYSE: CNI), called today for a new business model that embraces innovation, increased productivity, and greater stakeholder collaboration.

Mongeau, speaking to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, said: "We need to articulate a clear vision of how we're going to foster economic growth and compete more effectively in global markets. To that end, we require business and government to embrace change and foster innovation. At CN, we intend to be part of the solution."

Mongeau cited CN's Scheduled Grain Plan introduced last year as an example of innovation that is driving significant gains for all stakeholders in the grain industry.

"CN's success under this plan in delivering specified hopper cars to specified elevators on specified days each week has translated into more predictable service to the grain industry. Grain companies can now better schedule their staff at country elevators and waterfront export terminals. It's all about selling the right grain at the right time to the right buyer and ultimately creating more wealth for Canadian farmers."

The results - CN achieved a fulfillment rate of more than 85 per cent for spotting of covered hoppers on the day the railway committed their placement during 2010.

Mongeau said CN's new Scheduled Grain Plan is "a prototype of what we have to do more of in the key supply chains we serve to support increased competitiveness. This business model will require greater collaboration from all players and a renewed willingness to innovate in order to stake our ground in world markets."

Mongeau said achieving greater grain supply chain efficiencies means the system needs to evolve from one that's too often characterized by adversarial relationships to one based on closer collaboration and a clear end-to-end supply chain perspective. This is best achieved, he said, in a context of mutual trust and in a commercial framework.

Mongeau concluded: "To succeed, we have to take this journey together. Embracing change and innovating together is the key to making the grain industry more competitive in global markets."

A recording of Mongeau's speech will be available later today at: http://www.cn.ca/en/claude-mongeau-speech-winnipeg-chamber-commerce-20110217.htm

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. To the extent that CN has provided guidance that are non-GAAP financial measures, the Company may not be able to provide a reconciliation to the GAAP measures, due to unknown variables and uncertainty related to future results. Key assumptions used in determining forward-looking information are set forth below.

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