CN orders 70 new high-horsepower locomotives from GE and EMD – New diesel-electric locomotives will increase fuel efficiency, improve customer service and cut greenhouse-gas emissions.
MONTREAL, Oct. 21, 2009 — CN (TSX: CNR)(NYSE: CNI) announced today orders for 70 new high-horsepower locomotives from GE Transportation, a unit of General Electric Co. (GE), and Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. (EMD). CN will acquire 35 ES44DC locomotives from GE starting in the fourth quarter of 2010, and 35 SD70M-2s from EMD beginning in January 2011. The GE locomotives produce 4,400 horsepower and the EMDs 4,350 horsepower. The new units are part of CN’s multi-year locomotive-renewal program aimed at continuously increasing fuel efficiency, improving service reliability for its customers, and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.
The new locomotives are 15-20 per cent more fuel-efficient than the ones they will replace and will comply fully with the latest regulatory requirements for reduced locomotive exhaust emissions. In addition, the new GE and EMD locomotives will be equipped with distributed power (DP) capability. DP enables remote control of a locomotive or locomotives throughout a train from the lead control locomotive. DP provides faster, smoother train starts, improved braking and lower pulling forces at the head-end of a train. This enables CN to run fewer and more efficient trains and to take advantage of the productivity gains from its extended siding program. With more optimum matching of motive power to train weight, DP locomotives also allow CN to reduce fuel consumption and reduce emissions.
CN is the green, energy-efficient choice for shippers. Rail has been shown to be up to six times more energy-efficient than heavy trucks, because rail consumes a fraction of the fuel to transport one ton of freight one kilometer. In fact, we can move one tonne of freight almost 200 kilometers on just one liter of fuel. CN has a comprehensive corporate environmental policy and works closely with the rail industry in Canada and the United States and government agencies on ways to reduce its emissions. The company’s innovative Precision Railroading model, and partnership agreements with other railroads to share assets and deliver interchange traffic at the most efficient gateways, have also reduced fuel consumption and emissions.
Submitted by Chuck Hinrichs
