CN, fighting the Canadian government’s attempt to impose on grain movements “ill-advised legislation to unfairly punish the rail industry,” on March 31, 2014 reported that it spotted 5,102 hopper cars for loading at Prarie grain elevators in Western Canada during grain-crop Week 34.

Legislation tabled on March 26, 2014 by Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Transportation Minister Lisa Raitt to increase regulations on and oversight of railroad grain transportation, and to introduce new rules for the extension of interswitching limits in Canada’s railroad industry, has provoked a strong response from CN.

CN “continues to take significant steps to strengthen our railway’s Safety Management System, with the goal of improving the safety of transportation of dangerous goods,” says President and CEO Claude Mongeau.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference-Conductors, Trainpersons and Yardpersons (TCRC-CTY) has accepted CN’s offer to enter labor negotiations for a contract settlement on the condition that final and binding arbitration will apply if the parties cannot reach agreement.

CN on March 20, 2014 proposed binding arbitration to reach a contract settlement with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference-Conductors, Trainpersons and Yardpersons (TCRC-CTY) after the union advised that the tentative labor agreement negotiated with CN on Feb. 5, 2014 was not ratified by rank-and-file members.

Clearing the autumn grain harvest from trackside elevators is a perennial occasion for ritual fist-shaking on the Canadian Prairies. Western Canadian farmers enjoy a long tradition of blaming the railways for their woes, even more than the weather. (A favorite national folk tale has a Prairie farmer stricken by hail and locusts cursing, “God damn the CPR.”)

Railroads are operating at peak safety, profitabilty, and productivity levels. Let’s keep them that way.

CN on Feb. 28, 2014 closed the sale of its right-of-way principally used by Agence Métropolitaine de Transports (AMT) commuter trains between Deux-Montagnes and Montreal’s Central Station to AMT for C$97 million.

CN announced on Feb. 19, 2014 a capital investment plan worth approximately C$2.1 billion (US$1.9 billion) “to continue to raise network safety and efficiency, improve service, and grow the business.” The amount is approximately $100 million higher than what CN invested in 2013.

CN is charger a higher rate to move crude oil in DOT-111 tank cars built prior to October 2011, when Association of American Railroads CPC (Casualty Prevention Circular)-1232 safety standards took effect. These standards include head shields, top-fitting rollover protection, half-inch-thick normalized tank steel (for unjacketed applications), double-shelf couplers, and bottom skid protection.