Canadian Rail Chief Sees Freight Recovery; ‘Confidence Issue’

(NASDAQ – Ann Keeton, Dow Jones Newswires)

Canadian National Railway Co. (CNI) is seeing steady monthly increases in business of 3% to 4%, causing Chief Executive Hunter Harrison to turn bullish for a gradual recovery for rail freight hauling. Still, he said, “I think it’s a confidence issue,” he told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview, adding that fear of spending and investing could derail a recovery.

The head of the Montreal-based railroad company spoke Monday at a transportation symposium at Northwestern University. As railroads recover from a 20% downturn, they need to plan in the long term for adding capacity, he said.

Expansion from adding track likely won’t happen, because that’s too costly, he said. But railroads could become more efficient through mergers, Harrison said. As well, railroads should consider “open access” for some markets, where customers could decide with which freight hauler they want to work. That railroad would pay fees for access to a competitor’s track. Read more here.