CN to build new C$250-million intermodal and logistics hub in Milton, Ont., west of Toronto

TORONTO, March 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ - CN CNR CNI announced today a plan to build a C$250-million intermodal and logistics hub adjacent to its main line in the Town of Milton, Ont., located approximately 30 miles west of Toronto. Milton has ready access to major highways reaching key industrial and commercial areas in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).

Claude Mongeau, CN president and chief executive officer, said: "CN's advanced intermodal and logistics facility in Milton will help us efficiently handle growing intermodal traffic. The new hub will benefit our customers and the regional economy by improving central Canada's access to the key transborder market as well as the Pacific and Atlantic coast trade gateways we serve, generating new supply chain efficiencies in the GTHA, and creating well-paying local jobs."

CN's intermodal business -- principally containerized international and domestic cargo moving in cooperation with trucks and ocean-going ships -- is one of the company's fastest growing business segments and its largest single business unit with 2014 revenues of more than C$2.7 billion.

The new Milton facility will complement Brampton Intermodal Terminal (BIT), CN's existing Toronto-area intermodal terminal in Brampton, Ont. BIT, which is nearing capacity, but will continue to operate for the long term.

CN believes the new intermodal and logistics hub will generate specific supply chain benefits in the GTHA by:

• Facilitating logistics development in Milton and the Regional Municipality of Halton, the facility is expected to attract more warehousing distribution centres (DCs) and associated employment -- new DCs have opened near Milton in recent years owing to land availability and good access to the highway system;
• Supplying additional intermodal capacity and container availability for exporters located in the southwest area of the GTHA, and;
• Creating more than 1,000 direct and indirect jobs in Milton and Halton Region.

CN will submit a complete project description of the planned Milton hub to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency for review.

Mongeau said: "CN is committed to a comprehensive engagement process with the community at every step of this project in Milton."

CN is a true backbone of the economy, transporting more than C$250 billion worth of goods annually for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail network spanning Canada and mid-America. CN – Canadian National Railway Company, along with its operating railway subsidiaries -- serves the cities and ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., 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.

Forward-Looking Statements 

Certain information included in this news release is "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, including statements relating to specific supply chain benefits described above, 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 or 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 matters, or any other forward-looking statement.

SOURCE CN