CN to shorten trains during ‘extreme cold’ snap

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Published: January 17, 2012

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Expected "extreme cold weather conditions" over the next five or six days may cut into transit times for goods moving on Canadian National Railway (CN) track.

In an advisory to shippers on Monday, CN listed specific corridors that could be affected including track from Winnipeg to Edmonton; from Toronto to Winnipeg via Thunder Bay, Ont.; from Winnipeg south to Superior, Wis.; and from Jasper, Alta. to Prince George, B.C.

"Transit times may be affected for certain customer shipments moving along the rail corridors listed above," Montreal-based CN said Monday.

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Extreme cold has an adverse effect on train braking systems, the company said, and for safety reasons its trains would thus run at reduced lengths in order to maintain brake line pressure.

CN rail traffic patterns "remain close to seasonal norms at present," the company said Monday.

Relative to the unseasonably warm temperatures seen there so far this month, Environment Canada on Monday evening forecast colder temperatures in Winnipeg over the next few days, with daily highs only reaching -19 to -24 C between Tuesday and Friday.

At Jasper, Tuesday’s high and low temperatures were forecast Monday evening at -28 and -37 C respectively.

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