Announces plan to phase out company fleet of DOT-111 tank
cars over the next four years
MONTREAL,
March 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ - CN
(TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) continues to take significant steps to
strengthen the railway's Safety Management System, with the goal of
improving the safety of its transportation of dangerous goods, says
President and Chief Executive Officer Claude Mongeau.
"CN's business agenda is anchored on running a
safe railway -- it's the overarching imperative in everything we
do," said Mongeau. "We have developed a comprehensive work plan to
bolster our overall safety performance and to enhance our strong
record of delivering 99.998 per cent of dangerous goods to
destination without a release caused by an accident."
The comprehensive plan has three major
components:
1. Preventing accidents through
process, technology, people and investments as part of a sound
Safety Management System
After the tragic Lac-Mégantic accident last
July, CN began a thorough review of its safety policy and
procedures and has taken a number of steps, including a
comprehensive review of its already-robust train securement
practices and the implementation of a special program to acquire
additional monitoring equipment to enhance its strong technological
base for early detection of defects and mitigate the severity of
accidents.
CN also applied the U.S. OT-55 "key train
policy" to freight trains carrying one car loaded with toxic
inhalation hazardous materials, or 20 cars loaded with any
dangerous goods, and voluntarily extended the policy to its
Canadian operations. The policy includes measures on train
dispatching, track inspections and restrictions on train
speeds.
Finally, CN continues to strengthen its safety
culture, particularly with regard to a new generation of
railroaders, by revitalizing its training programs and opening two
new state-of-the art training facilities in Winnipeg and Chicago later this year.
2. Addressing the risks associated
with the older DOT-111 tank cars used in the movement of highly
flammable products
Mongeau also said: "For CN, tank car
design is one of the most important systemic issues arising from
the Lac-Mégantic accident. The question of tank car robustness is
central, and that question is being addressed by the AAR, to which
CN belongs, in recent recommendations calling for the retrofitting
or phase-out of the old DOT-111 cars used to transport flammable
liquids and a reinforced standard for new tank cars built in the
future."
CN itself is carrying out a gradual phase-out of
its small fleet of 183 legacy DOT-111 tank cars used to transport
diesel fuel for its locomotives to yard terminals. CN is investing
C$7 million to replace all the
DOT-111 tank cars it owns outright with 40 new tank cars meeting
the latest regulatory standards by the end of this year. The
remaining 143 leased DOT-111 cars will also be replaced with a
gradual phase-out plan completed as leases mature over the next
four years.
3. Strengthening emergency response
capabilities through sharing of relevant information with
communities, training support, and mutual aid intervention
protocols
Mongeau added: "CN believes that the rail
industry can enhance safety by working more closely with
communities. CN has already done this by launching a comprehensive
outreach program to meet municipalities and their emergency
responders along its network in order to discuss the nature and
volumes of dangerous commodities transported through the
communities we serve. This voluntary program is on top of the
requirement to divulge such information annually to Canadian
municipalities, as announced last fall by Transport Minister
Lisa Raitt. "
CN is urging the implementation of mutual aid
intervention protocols, with the participation of other carriers
and producers of dangerous commodities. This would help codify
emergency response standards and expand response resources in order
to be prepared to handle any future rail incidents involving
dangerous goods.
Mongeau concluded: "CN has an unwavering
commitment to safety and always strives to deliver responsibly.
Between 2003 and 2013, CN's main-track accidents declined by
approximately 50 per cent despite increased freight volumes. But we
are not stopping there -- our efforts are continuing to make an
already solid safety record even better."
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. 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.
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 factors that
could affect the above 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 and
assumptions 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