Hamilton’s National Steel Car snares contract to build 1,150 CN Rail grain cars

Canadian National Railway Co. has awarded a contract for 1,150 grain cars to National Steel Car Ltd. in Hamilton.

The railroad operator says the deal brings to $1 billion the amount it plans to invest in Ontario by the end of 2022, including $250 million to build a proposed logistics hub in Milton.

The order for the high-efficiency hopper cars comes amid a year of record grain movement at both CN and rival Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.

The surging statistics are thanks largely to grain held over from last year following a late harvest as well as insatiable global demand for bread and pasta amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

CN said earlier this month it hauled more than 30 million tonnes of grain in 2019-20, a seven-per-cent increase from the previous year.

CP moved 10 per cent more grain, at 29.5 million tonnes.

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