Canadian National Railway adopts fuel efficiency program

The Canadian National Railway Company (CN) has put in place a fuel efficiency program called Fuel Management Excellence (FMX) program, according to Keith Creel, executive vice president and chief operating officer. “CN is making significant strides in improving the fuel efficiency of its freight train operations, obtaining important sustainability gains and delivering a cost-effective transportation service through a series of initiatives, including the acquisition of modern locomotives, new technology applications to existing locomotives, enhanced analytic abilities, and employee training. We are particularly excited about our leading-edge work to set fuel efficiency targets for specific trains by route and to monitor train performance against these goals.” The company reports that CN has a fuel efficiency rating ten percent less fuel per gross ton per mile than the rail industry average.  The program includes the acquisition of new fuel-efficient locomotives, installation of Wi-Tronix telemetry systems, trip optimizer technology development and the installation of auto engine start stop (AESS) technology. (June 22, 2011)