CP reports best-ever month of grain movement to Vancouver; reiterates call for collaboration not criticism

CALGARY, Nov. 7, 2016

Millions of dollars in investment over the past three years by CP as well as new investment by its supply chain partners on grain country elevator capacity and port capacity has already begun to fulfill the promise of greater efficiency, fluidity and velocity. You can find details of the supply chain's weekly performance at www.cpr.ca/grain.

"I am proud of the CP team and applaud the efforts and early success of our supply chain partners as the crop season begins to accelerate into the colder months," said CP President and Chief Operating Officer Keith Creel. "We continue to focus on providing best-in-class service to our customers and look forward to moving more Western Canadian grain to market for the benefit of farmers, shippers and the Canadian economy."

CP reiterates that with the winter months and the majority of the 2016/17 crop movement still ahead, finger-pointing and unwarranted criticism of any single component of this complex chain is counter-productive and undermines Canada's reputation as a world-class supplier of grain.

Misleading and inaccurate data published by the Ag Transport Coalition, then cited repeatedly in the media by paid industry lobbyist Wade Sobkowich, of the Western Grain Elevators Association, continues to promote the notion that an adversarial relationship exists between the railroads and Canada's farm community. The truth is we are partners in driving the Western Canadian economy forward.

More than three-quarters of CP's Western Canadian grain business uses the Dedicated Train Program (DTP), which allows customers to control their own train assets for a period of 12 months or more. In other words, DTP customers use the capacity they need when they need it.

Trying to compare DTP performance to an "order fulfillment" model, as the Ag Transport Coalition does, simply does not work.