CN, BNSF sign deal to expand network and boost capacity

MONTREAL — CN and BNSF Railway Company announced today an agreement focused on improving rail network fluidity and infrastructure capacity, principally in Vancouver, B.C., Chicago, and between Memphis and southern Illinois.

The agreement includes track and rail infrastructure exchanges between the railroads, and CN’s grant of trackage, haulage and other access rights to BNSF Railway.

Highlights of the agreement, include:

Crossing Tracks: CN and BNSF say the deal
will expand fluidity across their rail networks

— In Vancouver, B.C., CN will obtain operational, dispatching and maintenance control of 12 miles of joint track between the Fraser River Bridge in New Westminster, B.C., and ocean terminals on the south shore of Burrard Inlet near downtown Vancouver. This trackage also connects CN’s network with its north shore terminals, customers and the former BC Rail.

— In Chicago, BNSF will obtain operational, dispatching and maintenance control of CN’s Corwith Tower interlocker, and obtain trackage rights on CN for 30 miles between Corwith and Joliet, Ill., and on two miles of CN’s 49th Street line.

— BNSF will obtain trackage rights on CN’s main lines between Memphis and southern Illinois. CN will also transfer its Memphis interlocker to BNSF.

“These agreements provide BNSF with increased capacity and dispatching efficiencies in Chicago and Memphis. In addition, we now can tap CN’s surplus capacity between Memphis and Centralia, Ill., to expand our ability to handle more traffic,” said Matthew K. Rose, BNSF’s chairman, president and CEO.

E. Hunter Harrison, CN’s president and CEO added: “These agreements are smart railroading: CN’s track and rail infrastructure sharing agreements with BNSF Railway are creative means of improving network fluidity and increasing traffic density on our system,” he says. “Our lease of the Joint Section in Vancouver will improve the fluidity of rail operations for all railroads in Vancouver, and improve key rail service to Vancouver Ports and Terminals on the South and North Shores.”

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation’s subsidiary BNSF Railway Company operates one of the largest railroad networks in North America, with about 32,000 route miles in 28 states and two Canadian provinces.