Canadian National Railway (CN) published its 2026-2027 Winter Plan recently, outlining the actions, investments and technologies the company will use to prepare itself for winter weather.
As the most northerly Class I railway in North America, CN ensures winter readiness into its operating plan and publishes its Winter Plan yearly. The Plan focuses on maintaining network fluidity, strengthening equipment reliability and ensuring the company has the people and resources to respond quickly to severe weather effects.
“Winter readiness is built into how we run the railway all year. We prepare our people, equipment and network well before winter arrives so that when conditions change, we can respond quickly, protect network fluidity and keep delivering safely and reliably for our customers,” Tracy Robinson, president and CEO of CN, said.
The railway said it was enhancing its fleet’s reliability by investing more than $64 million into technology that will put more than 100 air braking cars through predictive maintenance, replace 21 engines and compressors, and implement fleet-wide modifications to improve air car performance in extreme cold. Additionally, the railway said it will continue to advance high-flow brake system technology, and strengthen its ability to respond to severe weather through the use of rapid deployment teams, and staging resources to clear snow, provide backup power, and place critical materials and locomotives in strategic locations ahead of the weather.