CHICAGO, IL,
May 28, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - CN (TSX:
CNR) (NYSE: CNI) announced today it is accelerating work on the
US$33-million upgrading of its
Whitehall Subdivision in Wisconsin
to increase car-loading capacity and train velocity for the growing
frac sand supply chains of Badger Mining Corporation, Preferred
Sands of Wisconsin LLC, Atlas Resin Proppants LLC, and Taylor Frac
LLC.
The improvement program will permit the transportation of
heavier loaded frac sand freight cars weighing a maximum of 286,000
pounds, thereby increasing the volume per car, generating increased
productivity for customer car fleets, and increasing train speed
for CN.
CN will improve the 74-mile section of the Whitehall Subdivision
between Wisconsin Rapids and
Blair, Wis., in three years rather
than four to obtain quicker customer gains. Work began in 2012 and
the full program should be completed by December 2014.
Jean-Jacques Ruest, CN executive vice-president and chief
marketing officer, said: "We are investing in increased rail
capacity on the Whitehall Subdivision to help move more frac sand
and to develop a more robust supply chain for our customers in
Wisconsin to connect with the oil
and gas shale basins in North
America."
Frac sand is used by oil and gas industries in the hydraulic
fracturing process to hold shale fractures open and let natural gas
and oil flow out.
Stephen Hart, executive
vice-president of Berlin,
Wis.-based Badger Mining, said: "We have significantly
increased the frac sand production capacity at our Taylor, Wis., facility, and CN's Whitehall
Subdivision improvement will enhance our ability to efficiently
move this production to both existing and new customers and
markets. We are encouraged by this significant investment in our
industry by CN. Badger has long understood the benefits gained from
using rail to reach markets when compared to other modes of
transportation: larger volumes, improved transit times, greater
cost efficiencies and improved safety."
Bryan Hurtado, director of
Preferred Pipeline, which provides logistics services for Preferred
Sands of Wisconsin, said: "Our
company has worked closely with CN for several years to build our
frac sand and logistics business. CN's move to advance its
rehabilitation of the line serving our plants and our partner
suppliers' plants will help us to more economically and efficiently
move product."
Dan Valiquette, executive
vice-president of Atlas Resin Proppants of Taylor, Wis., said: "We appreciate CN's
sizable investment in the Whitehall Subdivision, which will improve
the effective utilization of our rail fleet, expand our product
distribution, and ultimately provide better service to our
customers in key shale markets."
Pat McConnell, chief executive
officer of Taylor Frac of
Green Lake, Wis., said: "Our
company values its partnership with CN and sees the acceleration of
its upgrading program for the Whitehall Subdivision as key to our
plans to continue growing our market share."
CN is a true backbone of the economy, transporting approximately
C$250 billion worth of goods annually
for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource
products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail
network spanning Canada and
mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the
Gulf of Mexico. CN - Canadian
National Railway Company, along with its operating railway
subsidiaries -- serves the ports of Vancouver, Prince
Rupert, B.C., Montreal,
Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of
Toronto, 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.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information included in this news
release is "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, including statements relating to
the growth of the frac sand market, 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
matters, or any other forward-looking statement.
SOURCE CN