Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company (French: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) (reporting mark CN) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
| Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada | |
System map | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Reporting mark | CN |
| Locale | Canada, United States |
| Dates of operation | 6 June 1919–present |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
| Previous gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) |
| Length | 32,831 km (20,400 mi) |
| Other | |
| Website | www |
The headquarters of CN in Downtown Montreal | |
Native name |
|
|---|---|
| Formerly | Canadian National Railways (1919–1978) |
| Company type | Public |
Traded as | |
| Industry | Transport |
| Predecessor | Canadian Northern Railway |
| Founded | June 6, 1919 |
| Headquarters | Montreal , Canada |
Key people | |
| Revenue | CA$17.11 billion (2022) |
| CA$5.593 billion (2019) | |
Net income | CA$5.12 billion (2022) |
| Owner |
|
Number of employees | 22,600 (2022) |
| Website | cn |
CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue and the physical size of its rail network, spanning Canada from the Atlantic coast in Nova Scotia to the Pacific coast in British Columbia across approximately 20,400 route miles (32,831 km) of track. In the late 20th century, CN gained extensive capacity in the United States by taking over such railroads as the Illinois Central.
CN is a public company with 22,600 employees, and as of July 2019 it has a market cap of approximately CA$90 billion. CN was government-owned, having been a Canadian Crown corporation from its founding in 1919 until being privatized in 1995. As of 2019, Bill Gates is the largest single shareholder of CN stock, owning a 14.2% interest through Cascade Investment and his own Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
From 1919 to 1978, the railway was called "Canadian National Railways" (CNR).