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By Alice McFarlane

Grain Delivery performance

CN Rail establishes a new monthly grain movement record

Apr 4, 2025 | 3:24 PM

CN Rail said it moved more than 2.85 million metric tonnes (MMT) of grain from Western Canada and 2.98 MMT nationally.

CN Executive Vice-President and Chief Commercial Officer Remi G. Lalonde said the performance is a direct result of close collaboration with customers to recover from the extreme cold weather experienced in Western Canada in January and February, which required safety-related train length restrictions.

“Our team remains focused on delivering for Canadian farmers and our grain industry customers. We can only achieve record grain movements with close collaboration across all parts of the supply chain,” Lalonde said in a news release.

Train length restrictions are necessary during periods of extreme cold to ensure operational safety and adherence to Transport Canada regulations. When temperatures fall below -25°C, train length must be reduced. Shorter trains mean more people and equipment are required to move the same amount of goods.

Train length restrictions were applied for an unprecedented number of consecutive days for much of January and the first three weeks of February, as Western Canada faced unrelenting extreme cold weather. As the weather has improved, CN’s traffic volumes have returned to normal.

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Under optimal conditions, the grain supply chain can support up to 7,800 cars per week (744,000 MMT) outside of winter and up to 6,250 cars per week (595,000 MMT) during winter.

Lalonde said being able to achieve these capacity levels depends on several factors, including balanced corridor flows, continuous operations at grain and export facilities, and the absence of major disruptions such as extreme weather, labor issues, or trade instability.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

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