CN makes the interim, permanent: Names JJ Ruest President and CEO

After what they have called a "global search" CN Rail has decided that the choice  to see them through the last six months is the choice to lead them into the future, taking away the "interim" from Jean Jacques Ruest's title at CN's head offices in Montreal.

CN announced the appointment of the long time railroader to the post of President and CEO today, also appointing Mr. Ruest to the CN Board of Directors.

“I am very proud to be a CN railroader, and I am honoured and humbled by the Board’s confidence in me and the entire leadership team,”  ... “CN’s leadership team and I are committed to re-establishing best-in-class operational excellence on a sustainable basis; to growing the value of the Company, and to building the CN brand. We will do so by investing in human capital, efficient and effective digitization, and infrastructure that will drive future growth. We will write the next chapter in CN’s history as we embark on our second century of serving customers safely and efficiently.” -- Jean  Jacques Ruest, now confirmed as President and CEO of CN Rail

Promoted to the top job in March of this year on an interim basis and to help rebuild the railroad's image following a winter and spring of delays and ongoing internal issues, Ruest has helped to work to rebuild the trust of customers who had expressed a number concerns over the state of the railway in the last six months.

Among the problems were bottlenecks in deliveries across Western Canada and troubles in getting grain from Canada's prairie provinces to British Columbia terminals in Vancouver and Prince Rupert.

As Ruest took charge of the operations of the rail road, CN began to outline the scope of their plans to address many of the outstanding issues, including the purchase of new equipment, hiring of new employees and offering enticements to have retired rail road workers come back to help bridge the railway through the short term shortages that they are facing.

CN explores a range of options in quest to build up rail network infrastructure
CN looks to Northern BC rail line expansion and staff hirings for Spring/Summer 2018

Ruest has been with CN for 22 years and spent the last eight as the railway's Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer.

CN provides the vital transportation link between terminal facilities with the Port of Prince Rupert and markets across Canada and into the southern United States and makes for one of the larger employers across Northern British Columbia.

You can review more notes related to CN's presence across Northern British Columbia from our archive page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review