CHICAGO, IN,
Aug. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - CN (TSX:
CNR) (NYSE: CNI) today announced plans for a US$165-million expansion of its Kirk Yard in
Gary, Ind., and relocation of its
Chicago area locomotive repair
shop to the upgraded freight car classification facility in
Northwest Indiana.
The project will increase Kirk Yard's processing
capacity to 2,500 cars per day from 1,500 today. Additional
classification tracks, along with more receiving and departure
tracks, will allow the yard to handle longer and more efficient
trains, improve interchange with other railroads, and consolidate
CN's switching operations in the Chicago area at a single primary yard.
Jim Vena, CN senior vice-president, Southern
Region, said: "Our Kirk Yard improvements, to be completed over the
next four years, will deliver significant gains in productivity and
create new capacity for growth in the Chicago area. Additionally, the redesign of
Kirk Yard represents a significant investment by CN in Northwest Indiana which will bring
approximately 250 new jobs to Gary."
CN's locomotive repair work now performed at a
shop in Homewood, Ill., south of
Chicago will be gradually moved to
a new 155,000-square foot shop facility in Kirk Yard. The facility
will be capable of servicing CN's fleet of locomotives operating
across its U.S. network.
A new wastewater treatment facility, upgrades to
utilities throughout the yard, and the renovation of several yard
buildings will also be part of the Kirk Yard redevelopment. CN's
Clark Road overpass leading to the lakefront industrial area will
be expanded during the project to allow improved truck access.
CN has partnered with the State of Indiana, its Regional Development
Authority, and the City of Gary on
an economic development incentive package to assist the Kirk Yard
development. The incentives are provided through city of
Gary tax increment financing
(TIF), a Regional Development Authority grant, and grants and tax
credits from the state of Indiana
for job creation.
"Whether its bringing dollars back from overseas
or from right next door, finding new investments and jobs is always
job one for us," said Indiana
Governor Mitch Daniels. "Today, we
see a product of that effort as one of the leaders of the rail
industry chooses Indiana's
lower-cost, business-friendly climate and, best of all, chooses
Northwest Indiana for its new
expansion."
CN acquired the 350-acre yard as part of its
purchase of the Elgin, Joliet
& Eastern Railway in 2009. With Kirk Yard as the primary
classification yard in the Chicago
area, CN's rail satellite operations around Chicago in Markham, Schiller
Park, Hawthorne, Glenn and
Joliet yards will continue to be
focused on local pick-up and delivery of freight cars to
customers.
The relocation of the locomotive repair shop to
Kirk Yard will free space in CN's Markham
Yard for redevelopment adjacent to CN's Chicago Intermodal Terminal. CN continues to
invest in its fast growing intermodal terminal in Harvey, Ill. and is actively exploring
redevelopment potential for this area strategically located south
of Chicago.
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, 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