Yesterday, CN announced plans to spend about $1.7 billion on capital expenditures in 2011. CN senior officers initially released the capex figure on Jan. 25 during the Class I’s fourth-quarter earnings conference.
CN is budgeting about $1 billion for track infrastructure work and projects aimed at improving network productivity and fluidity. Projects include replacing rail, ties and other track materials, improving bridges and upgrading lines associated with the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway that CN acquired in 2009.
The 2011 capex budget also includes funds for “strategic initiatives” systemwide, and additional network improvements in western and eastern Canada. In addition, CN plans to spend about $500 million on facilities, including transload and distribution centers to serve off-line customers, new information technology and other productivity-boosting projects; and about $200 million on equipment, such as the acquisition of new fuel-efficient locomotives and freight cars.
“CN's capital spending program is critical to [our] safety, growth and service objectives,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Claude Mongeau in a prepared statement. “In the last five years, CN spent almost $8 billion on capital improvements [that] serve to build a quality network that, in turn, supports economic growth across Canada and the United States.”
Source: Progressive Railroading Daily News
