Canadian National (CN) and CSX Transportation Inc (CSX) have announced a long-term agreement for CN to haul CSX traffic to and from Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, and CSX connections in Buffalo NY and Toledo OH.
"Under this agreement, CSX will retain a vital commercial presence in Sarnia, a major petrochemical production region, while using CN's trains and network for efficient long-haul transportation of our Sarnia traffic to the rest of the CSX network in the United States," said Dean Piacente, vice-president-chemicals and fertilizer for CSX. "CSX's important Sarnia customers will see better service and faster transit times via CN, compared with the more circuitous routing their traffic now takes via Chatham and Windsor, Ontario; Detroit and Plymouth MI, and Toledo.
CN also will transport long-haul CSX traffic destined for Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (CPR) to London, Ontario, for interchange with CPR, improving transit times for CPR. This traffic is currently interchanged between CSX and CPR at Chatham.
CSX will retain track and continue to serve its customers in Sarnia, and maintain operations on 27 miles of its line between Sarnia and Wallaceburg, Ontario. CSX plans to discontinue about 26 miles of track between Wallaceburg and Chatham in accordance with the Canada Transportation Act.
CN will purchase 12.5 miles of CSX track between Chatham and Blenheim, Ontario, acquiring control of trackage connecting CN's network to its Windsor classification yards and the Detroit-Windsor rail tunnel.