CHICAGO – CN today announced a re-alignment of its organizational structure in the United States to reflect more closely the geographical and operational balance of the company resulting from the acquisition of the Wisconsin Central Transportation Corp. in 2001.
Effective Jan. 1, 2003, CN’s Midwest Division will include the former Wisconsin Central, all CN operations in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio, trackage in northern Minnesota, those parts of CN’s Illinois operations north of Chicago, as well as most operations in Chicago itself. CN’s Gulf Division will include all operations in Illinois west and south of Chicago, and all trackage and operations in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Iowa and Nebraska.
“Our integration of the Wisconsin Central has progressed smoothly and is nearing completion,” said E. Hunter Harrison, CN’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “Re-organizing our divisions along geographical lines will help us maintain the focus of our operations and marketing on our customers and better enable our top managers to stay in day-to-day contact with all of our employees.”
Harrison also announced that Gordon Trafton, who has served as Vice President of the Wisconsin Central Division since October of 2001, would become Vice President-Midwest Division, and that Peter Marshall, who had been Vice President of the Midwest Division while also overseeing the Gulf Division on an interim basis, would become Vice President-Gulf Division.
“Peter Marshall and Gordon Trafton bring demonstrated leadership, varied and broad railroad experience and records of success to territories with which they already have familiarity,” said Harrison.
CN is currently constructing in Homewood, Ill., a new 55,000 square-foot administrative headquarters for its U.S. operations. With completion of that building, scheduled for mid-2003, Homewood will serve as the headquarters location for both of CN’s U.S. divisions.
“Homewood is just south of the dividing line between the two divisions and centrally located to all of our U.S. operations,” said Harrison. “Having our top management of our divisions together in a centrally located and state-of-the-art facility will facilitate communication and cooperation between the divisions.”
