Don’t Forget Canada!
Not only does Canada, which is only 11th in GDP, have the 5th largest rail network in the world, it is also one of only two countries in the top 10 list of countries with the largest rail networks with a privatized rail network, and this makes it prime for freight.
CN, which has over 32,350 km of track, which constitutes 70% of the rail network in Canada, moves more than 300 Million tons of cargo and delivers more than 250 Billion in goods a year across its transcontinental network that goes from Halifax to Vancouver and down to the Gulf Coast (and New Orleans) through Chicago and Memphis — reaching 75% of North American consumers!
And the rail rates in Canada are extremely competitive. Adjusted for purchasing power parity, Canada has some of the lowest rates in the world, tying or beating the US and beating Russia, China, Japan, India, Germany, and France with an average cost per mile hovering just above 3 cents in 2010 whereas France came in at over 8 cents!
Furthermore the Rail Sector in Canada, and CN in particular, is continuing to invest Billion(s) every year to increase capacity and efficiency and keep rates low in an effort to continue to decrease the miles required to make rail more cost effective than trucking. (Even though trips as short as 500 miles are now just as cost effective on the rails as they are on an 18 wheeler.)
And with integrated operations at four of Canada’s major ports — Halifax, Montreal, Prince Rupert, and Vancouver — Canada’s railways, and major rail network, provides your organization with a viable alternative to getting its goods to North American consumers. Given that many US ports are near, or at, capacity, and that the railways in and out of those ports are also near or at capacity, this gives your organization a strong incentive to include Canadian Rail as an important part of your North American distribution network.