CN and Canadian Pacific sign routing protocol to streamline flows of interline traffic
MONTREAL and CALGARY, Nov. 1, 2007 — CN (TSX: CNR)(NYSE: CNI) and Canadian
Pacific (TSX/NYSE: CP) announced today they have reached agreement on a routing protocol to expedite their exchange
of interline freight traffic at key gateways.
Under the protocol, CN and CP have established a structured plan to direct flows of interline traffic through the
most efficient interchange locations. Implementation of the agreement is well underway.
E. Hunter Harrison, president and chief executive officer of CN, said: “This routing protocol will deliver faster,
more dependable service to our customers while generating better utilization of railway assets. These gains will
build on significant service and efficiency improvements generated by CN and CP in recent years through a series
of asset-sharing agreements. We are working together smarter for our customers, yet remain determined competitors
in the marketplace.”
Fred Green, president and chief executive officer of CP, said: “This protocol will focus the flow of interline
traffic between CN and CP at the most fluid, efficient interchanges, in some cases removing traffic from congested
locations. This will benefit our customers and effectively generate increased rail capacity to accommodate traffic
growth. We are both keen to grow our share of the transportation pie.”
The routing protocol will result in a number of changes:
Fourteen gateways, principally Montreal (St-Luc), Milwaukee, and Winnipeg (Paddington), will experience an increase
in volume of interline traffic.
Fifteen gateways, including Chicago, Minneapolis, Superior, Wis., Calgary and several southern Ontario locations,
will see lesser volumes of interline traffic.
With the CN-CP agreement, CN now has routing protocol agreements with six Class 1 North American railways.
CP has similar agreements with three Class 1s.
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.
Canadian Pacific, through the ingenuity of its employees located across Canada and in the United States, intends
to be the safest, and most fluid railway in North America. Our people are the key to delivering innovative
transportation solutions to our customers and to ensuring the safe operation of our trains through the more
than 900 communities where we operate. Our combined ingenuity makes Canadian Pacific a better place to work,
rail a better way to ship, and North America a better place to live. Come and visit us at www.cpr.ca to see how
we can put our ingenuity to work for you. Canadian Pacific is proud to be the official rail freight services provider
for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.