CN Unveils 2025–2026 Winter Plan: Building Resilience, Driving Investment, and Strengthening Collaboration for a Reliable Supply Chain
Canadian National Railway Company, widely recognized as one of North America’s most critical transportation and logistics providers, has released its 2025–2026 Winter Plan, an annual strategy designed to ensure safe, reliable, and efficient service during one of the most demanding operating periods of the year.
The Winter Plan has become an established practice at CN, reflecting the company’s long-standing commitment to operational excellence and to the customers, industries, and communities that rely on its rail network. Each year, the plan outlines the proactive measures CN takes to anticipate and address the challenges brought on by harsh winter conditions, which can include subzero temperatures, heavy snowfall, ice buildup, and reduced daylight hours.
In unveiling the 2025–2026 strategy, CN reaffirmed its role as a backbone of the North American supply chain, highlighting the combination of infrastructure investment, technological advancement, workforce readiness, and customer collaboration that form the pillars of its winter preparation.
A Philosophy of Preparedness
For CN, preparing for winter is not a seasonal task but rather an integrated element of its year-round operations. “Preparing for winter is part of what we do every year,” said Tracy Robinson, President and Chief Executive Officer of CN. “Our Winter Plan lays out how our teams, assets, and processes are in place so we can deliver safe, reliable service and support our customers through the season.”
This philosophy is rooted in decades of experience. The company recognizes that while winter’s arrival is predictable, its impact is not always uniform or consistent. Severe cold can limit train lengths, freezing rain can disrupt yard operations, and snow accumulation can require significant deployment of snow-clearing equipment. CN’s approach is therefore based on resilience, flexibility, and coordination, ensuring that regardless of the conditions, the network remains fluid and capable of supporting the economy.
Key Highlights of the 2025–2026 Winter Plan
The new Winter Plan emphasizes three major areas of focus: resilience-focused operations, strategic investment, and collaborative solutions. Together, these themes reflect both CN’s long-term strategic direction and its immediate operational priorities for the coming season.
1. Resilience-Focused Operations
CN embeds winter readiness directly into its operating model, treating it as a continuous discipline rather than a seasonal adjustment. Preparation begins well before the first snowfall and continues throughout the year.
- Predictive Analytics and Automated Technologies:
Leveraging advanced data analytics, CN can forecast potential disruptions and take preventive action. For instance, predictive models help anticipate track or equipment issues related to extreme temperatures, allowing maintenance crews to intervene before problems escalate. Automated inspection portals installed across the network scan trains for defects in real time, reducing delays and improving safety. - Workforce Readiness:
The railway bolsters its winter workforce, ensuring that trained employees are available to handle added demands such as snow clearing, switch heating, and equipment maintenance. Specialized teams are deployed across the network to keep yards, terminals, and key corridors operational in all conditions. - Equipment Adaptation:
CN equips locomotives and rolling stock with winterized components, such as enhanced fuel systems and improved braking technology, to maintain performance in extreme cold. The company also ensures that its snow-clearing fleet—including high-powered snowplows and blowers—is strategically positioned across vulnerable corridors.
By embedding these measures, CN aims to minimize service interruptions and ensure network fluidity during periods of severe weather.
2. Strategic Investment in Capacity and Infrastructure
Another central pillar of CN’s 2025–2026 Winter Plan is its commitment to long-term capital investment. In 2025 alone, CN is directing more than $3 billion in capital expenditures, a significant portion of which is focused on projects that enhance winter resilience.
- Western Canada Expansion:
Approximately $1.5 billion is being invested in Western Canada, a region where CN’s network plays a vital role in moving grain, energy products, forestry goods, and intermodal traffic to and from ports. Projects include expanding key corridors, adding double-track sections, and upgrading major yards to improve throughput. These enhancements not only increase capacity but also provide flexibility when weather conditions reduce train length or frequency. - Fleet Renewal and Modernization:
CN has been renewing its locomotive fleet with modernized, fuel-efficient engines capable of delivering stronger performance in challenging conditions. Expanded rolling stock capacity, including new covered hoppers and intermodal containers, ensures that CN can respond effectively to seasonal peaks in demand while maintaining service reliability. - Technology-Enabled Infrastructure:
Investment is also being channeled into automated inspection systems, track-monitoring sensors, and switch-heating installations. These technologies increase efficiency, reduce downtime, and enhance safety, particularly during periods of extreme cold.
This capital program underscores CN’s conviction that long-term resilience is inseparable from investment. By strengthening the backbone of its network, CN ensures that winter weather does not derail supply chain performance.
3. Collaborative Solutions Across the Supply Chain
While internal preparation is critical, CN acknowledges that winter reliability is ultimately a supply chain-wide responsibility. To that end, the railway continues to work closely with a broad range of partners, including ports, shippers, receivers, governments, and other railways.
- Port Partnerships:
Collaboration with the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has already yielded measurable results, with weekly train movements to and from North Vancouver increasing by 10%. These gains demonstrate how coordinated planning between rail and port operations can directly improve supply chain performance. - Customer Engagement:
CN partners directly with customers to promote winter readiness at their facilities. This includes helping shippers and receivers improve trackside snow clearing, switch maintenance, and loading efficiency. These efforts reduce service delays, enhance safety, and ensure cargo continues to move smoothly during challenging conditions. - Government and Industry Collaboration:
CN also works with policymakers and other stakeholders to develop contingency measures, coordinate emergency responses, and promote infrastructure development that supports long-term resilience.
Through these collaborative measures, CN is ensuring that the entire logistics ecosystem is prepared for winter, not just the railway itself.
Supporting North America’s Economy
CN’s 2025–2026 Winter Plan is more than just an operational guide—it is a strategic framework for economic continuity. The company’s rail network spans more than 18,600 miles across Canada and the United States, moving goods that are essential to households, industries, and global trade.
From grain exports and energy shipments to consumer goods and automotive products, CN plays a critical role in connecting North American markets to global supply chains. Disruptions during winter can ripple across entire industries, making CN’s proactive preparation a matter of national economic importance.
By investing in infrastructure, adopting innovative technologies, and working hand in hand with its partners, CN is not only ensuring its own operational reliability but also safeguarding the broader economy.
As CN prepares for the 2025–2026 winter season, it does so with a vision that extends beyond the immediate horizon. The railway’s investments in technology, workforce development, and supply chain partnerships are part of a long-term strategy to position CN as a leader in safe, sustainable, and efficient transportation.
The Winter Plan reflects the company’s understanding that climate variability, growing trade volumes, and increasing customer expectations demand continuous adaptation and innovation. By embedding resilience into its culture and operations, CN is demonstrating that it is prepared not only for the challenges of this winter but also for the opportunities of the decades to come.
The release of CN’s 2025–2026 Winter Plan underscores the company’s unwavering commitment to operational excellence and customer service. By focusing on resilience, investing strategically, and fostering collaboration across the supply chain, CN is prepared to meet the challenges of the upcoming winter season while supporting the flow of goods across North America.
For CN, winter readiness is not simply a defensive measure—it is a proactive strategy to ensure that the railway continues to be a reliable, innovative, and indispensable partner in the global economy.