VANCOUVER,
Sept. 26, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - CN
(TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) announced today plans to start freight
service on approximately 75 per cent of the rail network operated
by bankrupt short-line Kelowna
Pacific Railway Ltd. (KPR) in southern British Columbia after reaching trustee,
customer and labour agreements that support resumption of
operations.
KPR, which leased its network from CN in 1999, entered
receivership on July 5, 2013, and
halted operations. CN this week reached mutually satisfactory
agreements with the line's trustee to take it out of the bankruptcy
process, Tolko Industries Ltd., the main customer on the line, and
the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) and TCRC-Maintenance of
Way Employees Division (TCRC-MWED). The TCRC and TCRC-MWED
represent approximately 35 locomotive engineers, conductors and
track maintenance workers employed by the insolvent B.C. short-line
railway.
Jim Vena, CN executive vice-president and chief operating
officer, said: "I'm pleased to say that the parties were able to
come together to assemble the right business and labour conditions
to justify the resumption of rail traffic on the major portion of
the KPR as well as a sizeable capital investment required to
protect rail service in the region. We are targeting the resumption
of operations as soon as we can ensure the track is brought back to
a standard to ensure safe train operations."
CN will resume operations on 97 miles, or approximately 75 per
cent, of the network KPR operated running from Campbell Creek,
B.C., located approximately 10 miles east of Kamloops, to Vernon, Lumby Junction and Lumby, B.C.
CN will discontinue track KPR operated between Lumby Junction
and Kelowna, B.C., because of
insufficient freight traffic. The 60-day discontinuance process
under the Canada Transportation Act will start later this week.
CN (TSX: CNR)(NYSE: CNI) 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. CN - Canadian National
Railway Company, along with its operating railway subsidiaries --
serves the cities and ports of Vancouver, Prince
Rupert, B.C., Montreal,
Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of
Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth,
Minn./Superior, Wis., 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