CN invests in Alberta rail corridors

May 12, 2011
by MM&D staff

EDMONTON: CN will 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.

“CN is experiencing continued growth in western Canadian freight volumes,” said Keith Creel, CN’s executive vice-president and COO. “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:

• $12 million to construct 3.5 miles of track between two sidings located roughly 20 miles east of Edmonton on the Wainwright subdivision, creating 7.9 miles of double track. CN said the new track will help dispatchers to expedite the meeting of trains and increase train velocity on one of the highest-density corridors on the CN system;
• $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;
• $10 million on CN’s secondary Lac La Biche subdivision in northern Alberta to support additional traffic to and from Fort McMurray. The company’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; and
• $3 million to reconfigure tracks at Walker Yard in Edmonton to increase the velocity of the terminal in handling greater volumes of freight traffic.