CN Rail President and CEO claims title of Railroader of the Year

CN President and CEO Jean Jacques Ruest can add the title
of Railroader of the Year to his resume starting in January
(photo from CN Rail)

It's been quite the year for CN Rail President Jean Jacques Ruest, who took over the leadership of one of the continents largest railroads at the height of a crisis, with CN's rolling stock not rolling so much owing to a range of issues that severely impacted its operations across Western Canada.

Yet, since taking on the top job in March of this year and through a number of moves over the course of the last year, the railway is heading into 2019 with renewed optimism that it has put many of its past problems behind them and with an ambitious infrastructure and rail car replacement program now moving into high gear.

The ability to reverse much of the bad press that railway received in early 2018 caught the attention of Railway Age magazine which named the CN President and CEO as their Railroader of the Year.

With the judges noting the many challenges that he faced as he took to his duties over the last year

“JJ Ruest took a railroad plagued with service problems and serious network capacity shortages and implemented aggressive capital investment and service quality programs,” ... “These efforts have produced outstanding results, in terms of traffic growth and profitability. As examples, CN’s engineering team completed more than 80% of expansion projects while the network was under heavy traffic. 

And in Ruest’s first few months as chief executive, CN hired hundreds of new line employees in train and engine service, laying a strong foundation for the railroad’s continued success. Our Railroader of the Year sees strong growth opportunities ahead, across multiple commodities and new supply chain services.” --  Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono. 

Mr. Ruest is only the sixth President or CEO of a Canadian railway to be awarded the title of Railroader of the Year.

The others included

John L Cann, Canadian National (1985)
Paul M. Tellier, Canadian National (1997)
E. Hunter Harris, Canadian National/Illinois Central (2002)
Robert J. Ritchie, Canadian Pacific (2004)
E. Hunter Harris, Canadian Pacific (2015)

The CN President and CEO paid tribute to the management, staff and workforce of CN Rail for pulling together to tackle the issues that the railway had been facing over the year.

“On behalf of the entire CN team, I am extremely proud to accept this honour ... The North American rail industry plays a critical role in our economy. Our human talent, our deployment of technology and infrastructure are what make our industry supply chain services so relevant to all the customers who depend on us.”

More background on the honour can be found here, Mr. Ruest will be presented with his award in March at Railway Age Presentation dinner in March in Chicago.

You can explore Railway Age magazine here and through their Facebook page and twitter feed.

For a look at some of the work of CN Rail across the Northwest and Northern British Columbia see our archive page here.