CN budgets $80 million in capex projects for Minnesota

CN expects to spend more than $80 million this year on infrastructure projects in Minnesota, the Class I announced last week.

Planned expansion projects in the state will include development of the positive train control system and construction of a new train passing siding near Glendale, Minnesota, according to a CN press release.

Maintenance projects will include replacement of more than 10 miles of rail; installation of 85,000 new ties; the rebuilding 23 road crossing surfaces; and work on bridges, culverts, signal systems and other track infrastructure.

CN has invested more than $185 million on capital expenditure projects in the state over the past five years.

"Following a record capital program in 2018, CN has been able to take on more traffic from different commodity sectors based on contracts with our customers," said Derek Taylor, vice president of CN’s southern region. "This year, we are continuing to invest to boost capacity and network resiliency and to meet growing traffic on our corridors across Minnesota."

The Minnesota projects are part of CN’s 2019 record $2.9 billion capital expenditure program.