Good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the committee.
My name is Ryan Ratledge and I lead the operating team at Central Maine and Quebec Railway. Our Canadian operations are headquartered in Farnham, Quebec. Our customers originate and terminate a multitude of carloads on our railway, as well as utilize the CMQ to bridge carload traffic from the Maritimes and northern Maine through Montreal, then flowing into the North American railway network. We handle a very diverse range of commodities that include forest and paper products, chemicals, and propane. Three of our larger clients include NGL, AkzoNobel, and Tafisa.
CMQ has invested in excess of $22 million in our track and infrastructure since we started up in 2014. We will invest an additional $10 million of CMQ's money in 2016. We fully support and advocate for a refundable short-line tax credit for Canadian short-line railways.
CMQ is a federally regulated railway that began operations on June 30, 2014. We provide employment for about 50 team members in Quebec, and 70 in Maine and Vermont. Over the last 22 months, when compared with our former operator, we have realized a reduction in frequency, cost, and severity associated with injuries and derailments. We have made progress, but we continue to strive for improvement.
We connect directly with Canadian Pacific in the Montreal area, as well as the St. Lawrence and Quebec railway, Vermont Railway, Maine Northern Railway, New Brunswick Southern Railway, and Pan Am Railway.
Many leaders within the communities in which we operate have expressed interest in resuming passenger and commuter operations on our line between St-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Sherbrooke, Quebec. If this makes sense for Quebec, then CMQ supports this idea. Needless to say, this will require many millions of dollars of additional investment in the track and infrastructure.
Short-line railways have proven themselves to be safe and friendly to the environment, and I'm honoured to be a part of this industry.
I'm open and happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Thank you.