(The Canadian Press circulated the following story on May 23.)
TORONTO —Thinning options for North America’s railway industry could mean that major rail companies will look outside their core business to expand, according to the president and CEO of Canadian National Railway Co.
Hunter Harrison told the beginning of a two-day analyst conference on Wednesday that he believes CN Rail would benefit from being able “to control more of the links in the logistics chain.”
He outlined a lack of synergy in the rail industry.
“You’ve got one person doing the loading and unloading. You’ve got another railroad switching it,” he said in a speech. “Those models don’t work because everyone is trying to accomplish something different.”
Harrison, who said he will retire in three years, predicted that the changes will reach the rail industry in several years, though he doesn’t expect CN Rail to be “doing something tomorrow.”
“I can see this company post-Harrison doing a lot of exciting things like this and I certainly would support it as a shareholder,” he said.
In the short term, Harrison said there are still “niche acquisitions” in the railway industry that he’s interested in, despite a shrinking number of possible acquisitions.
“Are the opportunities at one point gonna dry up? Yes. I don’t know that there’s going to be a new railway built,” he said.
“If we can acquire one at the right price we would still be in that market.”