(The Canadian Press circulated the following article on November 30.)
MONTREAL — Canadian National Railway has renamed its underwater rail tunnel between Ontario and Michigan after Paul Tellier, its chief executive from 1992 to 2002.
The Paul M. Tellier Tunnel extends 1,868 metres under the St. Clair River between Sarnia, Ont., and Port Huron, Mich. It opened in 1995 as the St. Clair Tunnel. The tunnel’s 8.4-metre interior diameter can accommodate doublestack container trains, multi-level auto carriers and other large loads.
It significantly reduces transit times for rail traffic that previously had to be barged across the river, as well as for container traffic between Halifax and Chicago.
Hunter Harrison, who succeeded Tellier as CN president and chief executive officer, praised Tellier.
“Paul Tellier realized his vision for CN as a truly North American transportation company by completing the tunnel and successfully extending the railroad’s reach into the U.S,” Harrison said Tuesday.
During Tellier’s tenure, CN acquired the Illinois Central and Wisconsin Central railroads to turn the Canadian transcontinental railway into a North American one.
Last year, transborder traffic generated 34 per cent of CN’s total revenue of $5.9 billion Cdn.