Thanks, Jeff.
Honourable members, we are pleased to report that our rail network performance is improving. The grain supply chain is on the road to recovery
Our operations team has been focused on moving grain and working extremely hard to rebound from the weather challenges in February. The data and evidence provide encouraging signs that a recovery has taken hold.
Week 32—March 4 through March10—saw grain shipments increase by 22% compared to the previous week, totalling 484,000 metric tons of grain. This is the highest weekly volume we have moved since mid-December.
Our daily network throughput has increased by 8% compared to last week, and is up by more than 16% overall since mid-February. We placed 10% more empty railcars in the country in week 32 compared to the week prior, a further sign of incremental gains being achieved. I am happy to report that we are up another 5% in week 33. Our network velocity is also improving, with train speeds up approximately 13% this past week versus mid-February.
As weather conditions moderate, we expect the positive trend to continue through March, with a further lift as the port of Thunder Bay reopens. Until Thunder Bay is available, we expect heavy demand for railcars out of Manitoba to ship all the way into the Vancouver corridor.
CP continues to add both crews and locomotives to support a strong recovery. We are adding more than 700 new employees, who are currently in various stages of training, and we are adding 100 locomotives, which will start being integrated into the fleet through the summer.
We have also deployed a “SWAT team” of retirees and CP managers to provide additional crew capacity, which is helping ensure the system recovers as quickly as possible.
As we move into spring, we are taking strong precautionary measures to avoid operational constraints caused by adverse environmental conditions, such as the heavy snowfall melting and the resulting runoff, as well as avalanches.
CP's avalanche monitoring and control program continues to work closely with all stakeholders through B.C.'s mountainous transportation corridor, including Parks Canada and the B.C. highways ministry, to constantly monitor present and forecasted weather conditions that could adversely affect the corridor.
We have also commenced our spring thaw surveillance program, which has strong protocols in place to monitor conditions and respond effectively in the event of high water conditions across our network. Early indications across most of CP's network east of the Rockies are pointing to an average to below average threat for spring flooding. Although we remain optimistic the snow will melt slowly, all precautions are being taken with respect to potential avalanche and spring flooding disruptions.
We continue working closely with our customers to deliver on the commitments of CP's grain products and services to meet their needs. Beyond these measures, we have earmarked between $1.35 and $1.5 billion for capital improvements this year to help strengthen the capacity and fluidity of the supply chain.
Capacity-enhancing infrastructure investments are critical to realizing long-term gains to the overall performance of the grain supply chain. This is particularly true in regard to the market's preference for Vancouver as the primary and growing outlet for grain. CP is hopeful the Government of Canada will prioritize investments under the national trade corridors fund for projects that will enhance supply chain capacity in this corridor.
In closing, as we have said previously, CP strongly encourages the swift passage of Bill C-49 by the Senate. Although imperfect, this legislation will provide additional certainty for the grain supply chain, particularly with respect to the potential new hopper car investments.
Again, thank you for the opportunity to be here today. We would reiterate that in spite of the difficult operating conditions this winter, CP is committed to improvement and is still moving more grain than we did last year, and we are well positioned to have a strong year overall.
Thank you.