CN names national training center after Mongeau

CN has renamed its national employee training center in Winnipeg, Manitoba, after Claude Mongeau, the company's former president and chief executive officer.

Opened in 2014, the CN Claude Mongeau National Training Centre campus in Winnipeg provides "consistent, quality training with a modern curriculum" for jobs including conductor, track maintainer, car mechanic and supervisor, according to a CN press release.

Employees receive hands-on training in laboratories with equipment such as locomotive, crane, and signals and communication simulators. Also available are outdoor labs with dedicated rolling stock and other equipment for field training.

Mongeau, who joined CN in 1994, was the company's chief financial officer for 11 years, and president and CEO from 2010 until he stepped down for health reasons at the end of June 2016.

"Under Claude's leadership, we built two state-of-the-art employee training centers, where a new generation of railroaders learn the skills they need for a safe and successful career at CN," said Luc Jobin, president and CEO. "Claude valued our commitment to safety above all and the training centers are vital in instilling and maintaining that strong commitment to safety in our thousands of new railroaders as well as veteran employees."

Mongeau said he was honored to have his name on the training facility.

"Safety is a key value at CN and our industry-leading training centers are the embodiment of that commitment," he said.

The Winnipeg center trains CN employees from Canada. CN's suburban Chicago training center educates the company's U.S. employees.