(CN issued the following news release on November 19.)
MONTREAL — Keith L. Heller, senior vice-president of CN’s Eastern Canada Region, will retire at year-end to become chief executive officer of English Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS) on Jan. 1, 2004.
At EWS Heller will replace Philip Mengel, who will return to the United States, where he will enter into an affiliation with Berkshire Partners, one of EWS’s major investors. CN holds a 40 per cent equity stake in EWS.
Also effective Jan. 1, 2004, Keith Creel, CN’s senior vice-president, Western Canada Region, will replace Heller. Peter Marshall, a CN vice-president in operations, will succeed Creel as senior vice-president, Western Canada Region.
E. Hunter Harrison, president and chief executive officer of CN, said: “We will miss Keith’s shrewd analysis and take-charge management style, but these strengths will go far at EWS.
“Keith Heller, always leading the charge for change, made his mark at CN in turning around the railway’s Eastern operations in the late 1990s. In many ways, it was Keith’s drive and determination to shake up the status quo that got the job done.”
Heller, a 37-year veteran at CN, has held a succession of senior operations and management positions at the company.
Harrison said: “Creel and Marshall are very able railroaders and represent a new generation of leaders at CN. They will build on the strengths of our scheduled operations and ensure continued profitable growth of the company.”
Creel began his rail career at Burlington Northern Railway in 1992, before joining the Illinois Central Railroad (IC) in 1996. CN acquired IC in 1999. Creel was named general manager of the Michigan Zone within CN’s former Midwest Division in June 2000, and became vice-president of the company’s Prairie Division in 2002. Creel holds a bachelor of science degree in marketing/management from Jacksonville State University.
Marshall joined CN in 1997 as vice-president, bulk commodities. In April 1999 he was appointed vice-president, Prairie Division. In July 2001 he became vice-president, Midwest Division, and in January 2003 he became vice-president, Gulf Division. Earlier this year he began a one-year special project involving highly focused transportation, engineering and mechanical, and non-operational assignments. Prior to joining CN Marshall held a succession of senior management positions at Imperial Oil, a division of EXXON.
Canadian National Railway Company spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key cities of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, St. Louis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America.