MONTREAL,
Feb. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - CN (TSX:
CNR) (NYSE: CNI) announced today plans to invest C$1.75 billion in 2012 to maintain and upgrade
its railway network, support growth and productivity initiatives,
and continue to provide customers with a high level of service.
Claude Mongeau, president and
chief executive officer, said: "CN is taking its business model to
the next level with its focus on Operational and Service
Excellence. We are making major strides in improving all customer
service touch points, delivering innovative products and achieving
end-to-end supply chain collaboration while continually improving
productivity. CN's capital spending is critical to running a safe,
fluid and productive network and to attaining our growth and
service objectives."
More than C$1 billion of CN's 2012
capital investment program will be targeted on track infrastructure
to maintain safe railway operations and to enhance the productivity
and fluidity of the rail network. This includes replacement of
rail, ties and other track materials and bridge improvements.
CN's infrastructure envelope also includes funds for initiatives
such as rail-line and yard improvements on the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company that
CN acquired in 2009, extended sidings along its Edmonton-Prince
Rupert, B.C., corridor, and longer passing tracks in
Northern Ontario.
Equipment spending, which is intended to improve the quality of
the fleet and meet customer requirements, will include the
acquisition of new freight cars and locomotive upgrading and is
targeted to reach approximately C$150
million in 2012.
CN also expects to spend approximately C$500 million on various projects to take
advantage of growth opportunities and to acquire information
technology to support Operational and Service Excellence and other
opportunities that enhance productivity.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information included in this news
release constitutes "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 or 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.
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, 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