Canadian National and Norfolk Southern are set to launch a new domestic intermodal service

Two major Class I railroad carriers heralded a new intermodal service this week, with Montreal-based Canadian National Railway Company (CN) and Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern (NS) announcing, effective October 2, their new domestic intermodal service with make its debut.

CN and NS officials said that this new service will provide customers with an integrated, market-competitive, and efficient all-rail service. And they added that this service will connect CN-served Canadian markets with Norfolk Southern-served Kansas City and Atlanta, which they referred to as the heart of the fast-growing manufacturing and consumer base in the Southeastern U.S.  

“This new CN-Norfolk Southern Domestic Intermodal service combines premier intermodal choices for our shared customers,” said Norfolk Southern President and Chief Executive Officer Alan H. Shaw, in a statement. “Designed with customer-centricity top of mind, it simplifies their processes, enabling smoother rail shipments between Canada, Kansas City, and Atlanta.”

CN’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Tracy Robinson said in the same statement that CN is pleased to provide customers enhanced market access with the launch of another new Intermodal product.

“The reliable, cost-effective, and truck-competitive service will help our customers shift more business onto rail,” said Robinson.

Larry Gross, president of Gross Transportation Consulting, said that this new service is a positive development.

“Any new service that will seamlessly surmount the interchange barrier between railroads will help intermodal become more competitive with truck,” he said.

In a recent interview with LM, Gross said that both domestic and international intermodal saw significant declines during the second half of 2022, as the unprecedented post-pandemic surge finally ran out of steam.

“More recently, the declines abated in the first quarter of this year, and both sectors now appear to have turned the corner,” he said. “While significant annual deficits remain, the comparisons are much more kind when looking at pre-pandemic traffic levels. With regard to capacity, substantial numbers of new domestic containers and chassis have now arrived. Further, with lower volumes, congestion on the network has ended and this has resulted in greatly improved equipment cycle times and better productivity. This has restored fleet capacity that had been lost during the service crisis. The bottom line is that there’s plenty of capacity available to meet current and upcoming demand levels.”

CN also announced a significant upgrade to its Falcon Premium Intermodal Service, which is through a partnership with Union Pacific, and Grupo México in the form of direct intermodal service between points in Mexico and Canada through Eagle Pass and Chicago, which was launched in early September. CN said that recent operational changes made by Union Pacific (UP), will remove a full day of transit time for customers using the Canada-US-Mexico service.

CN described the Falcon Premium Intermodal Service as a best-in-class Mexico-U.S.-Canada service with a seamless rail connection in Chicago, Illinois, adding that it directly connects all CN origin points within Canada and Detroit, Michigan to GMXT terminals in Mexico: Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, and Silao, Guanajuato. This service benefits intermodal customers shipping automotive parts, food, FAK (freight - all kinds), home appliances, and temperature-controlled products. And it leverages GMXT’s best-in-class transit times between Silao, Guanajuato, and Eagle Pass, Texas; Union Pacific’s superior route from Texas to Chicago and CN’s best-in-class service connecting Chicago to all points in Canada through the unique EJ&E Chicago bypass.

This new and innovative service allows for the maximization of lading weights between Mexico/Canada for greater efficiency for customers, said CN. Falcon Premium intermodal service also contributes to lower greenhouse gas emissions through reduced rail miles and truck-to-rail conversion.