CN to invest US$30 million in Tennessee

Derek Taylor, Vice-President, Eastern Region at CN, commented: “We take our essential role in the North American economy seriously and these investments in Tennessee are a key part of our strategy to support growth. The company remains committed to help enable supply chains that fuel Tennessee’s growth as we are a critical part of getting everyday goods to markets and consumers. Safety is a core value at CN and by investing in the maintenance and expansion of our track and capacity, we are providing customers with a safe and reliable solution at a time when fluid supply chains are more critical than ever.”

Clay Bright, TDOT Commissioner, added: “Private investments in our rail infrastructure provide numerous benefits to the economy as a whole and are critical now more than ever. I greatly appreciate CN’s continued commitment to improving the transportation network and aiding in America’s economic recovery.”

The company’s investments will create greater capacity, which supports reductions in its customer’s transportation supply chain greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, by encouraging the use of rail for long haul needs. This reduces emissions, traffic congestion, accidents and burdens on public transportation infrastructure as one freight train can replace over 300 trucks from roads. Moving freight by rail instead of truck reduces GHG emissions by 75%. The company will continue to deploy important safety enhancing technologies across its network, such as the Autonomous Track Inspection Programme, Distributed Air Cars and Automated Inspection Portals.

Maintenance programme highlights include:

• Replacement of 7 miles of rail.
• Installation of over 25 000 new railroad ties.
• Rebuilds of 17 road crossing surfaces.
• Maintenance work on bridges, level crossings, culverts, signal systems and other track infrastructure.

Western Tennessee is CN’s gateway to the south. CN’s yard in Memphis is a major freight handling point and the hub of CN’s US operations south of Chicago. It is one of only two hump yards in the US (CN has four hump yards on its entire network) and serves as an interchange point with four other Class I railroads. The Memphis Yard is also the location of a major CN railcar/locomotive repair shop. An important CN intermodal terminal is in Memphis at the Frank Pigeon Industrial Park. CN also serves President’s Island, an industrial core in Memphis.

Read the article online at: https://www.drybulkmagazine.com/rail-barge/30072020/cn-to-invest-us30-million-in-tennessee/