CN makes network investments to increase capacity, train velocity in Alberta rail corridors seeing growing freight traffic

EDMONTON, May 10 /PRNewswire/ - CN (TSX: CNR)(NYSE: CNI) announced today major investments to double track key segments of its high-volume main line east of Edmonton, add capacity to its rail line to the oil sands region of northern Alberta, and improve velocity at its Walker Yard freight car classification facility in Edmonton.

Keith Creel, CN executive vice-president and chief operating officer, said: "CN is experiencing continued growth in Western Canadian freight volumes. We are making strategic rail investments in Alberta to increase network capacity and improve train velocity along our transcontinental main line between Edmonton and Winnipeg, and to be positioned to handle greater volumes of freight over our line to Fort McMurray, the gateway to Alberta's oil sands production region."

CN's capacity investments include:

    - C$12 million to construct 3.5 miles of track between two sidings
      located approximately 20 miles east of Edmonton on the Wainwright
      Subdivision, creating 7.9 miles of double track. The new track will
      help dispatchers to expedite the meeting of trains and to increase
      train velocity on one of the highest-density corridors on the CN
      system.

    - C$12 million to build 11,400 feet of track east of Clover Bar yard on
      the Wainwright Subdivision in the greater Edmonton area to facilitate
      switching in the terminal. The additional track will help to expedite
      arrivals and departures of freight trains at the yard.

    - C$10 million on CN's secondary Lac La Biche Subdivision in northern
      Alberta to support additional traffic to and from Fort McMurray. CN's
      Fort McMurray yard gives customers direct rail access to the major
      energy projects in development in the Athabasca, Peace River and Cold
      Lake oil sands regions.

    - C$3 million to reconfigure tracks at Walker Yard in Edmonton to
      increase the velocity of the terminal in handling greater volumes of
      freight traffic.

Creel said: "These investments will help CN handle rising traffic levels and deliver greater supply chain efficiencies. CN is committed to greater productivity and service innovation to help our customers compete more effectively in their end markets."

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information included in this news release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and under Canadian securities laws. CN cautions that, by their nature, these forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company cautions that its assumptions may not materialize and that current economic conditions render such assumptions, although reasonable at the time they were made, subject to greater uncertainty. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results of performance of the Company or the rail industry to be materially different from the outlook or any future results or performance implied by such statements.

Important risk factors that could affect the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the effects of general economic and business conditions, industry competition, inflation, currency and interest rate fluctuations, changes in fuel prices, legislative and/or regulatory developments, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, actions by regulators, various events which could disrupt operations, including natural events such as severe weather, droughts, floods and earthquakes, labor negotiations and disruptions, environmental claims, uncertainties of investigations, proceedings or other types of claims and litigation, risks and liabilities arising from derailments, and other risks detailed from time to time in reports filed by CN with securities regulators in Canada and the United States. Reference should be made to "Management's Discussion and Analysis" in CN's annual and interim reports, Annual Information Form and Form 40-F filed with Canadian and U.S. securities regulators, available on CN's website, for a summary of major risks.

CN assumes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect future events, changes in circumstances, or changes in beliefs, unless required by applicable Canadian securities laws. In the event CN does update any forward-looking statement, no inference should be made that CN will make additional updates with respect to that statement, related maters, or any other forward-looking statement.

CN - Canadian National Railway Company and its operating railway subsidiaries - spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key metropolitan areas of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, St. Louis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information on CN, visit the company's website at www.cn.ca.

SOURCE CN