The Canadian National Railway (CN) plans to expand its cold chain capacity by investing C$20 million (US$16.13 million) to acquire 200 more domestic, 53-foot temperature-controlled containers and 32 electrical generators to move 40-foot international marine reefers to and from CN-served ports by rail.

The railway said the capacity expansion "aims to help producers and distributors of chilled or frozen foods grow their businesses in North American and overseas markets".

"CN was the first railway to introduce highway-to-rail conversion of reefer service in transborder markets," said CN vice-president JJ Ruest.

"We are now adding capacity to grow and help Canada's food processing industry gain and maintain access to new domestic and international markets," he said.

The electric generators will provide economies of scale by connecting up to 17 international marine reefers at a time.