CN Rail has released it's plan to move grain in the 2018 to 2019 crop year.

Under Bill C-49, which was passed by the Federal Government in May, the rail company is required to publish a yearly plan of action, which was made available to the public Tuesday, July 31st.

CN Rail’s Executive Vice-President of Corporate Services and Chief Legal Officer Sean Finn says one of the key components of the plan is estimating this year's crop.

"We did so based on current estimates with input from both Ag Canada and Transport Canada. We estimate it to be just a bit over the last three year average at 69.7 million metric tonnes, probably won't be accurate because it's a bit early, and our share of that would be between 24 and 26 million tonnes."

Other factors highlighted in CN's grain plan include CN Rail's fleet and infrastructure, and new investments.

The rail company will acquire 1,000 new high capacity hopper cars over the next two years, 200 new locomotives over the next three years, and hire over 1,200 new qualified locomotive conductors.

They've also committed to completing improvements to their network through their record $3.5 billion capital program for 2018 before the coming winter.

Finn says, when building the plan, they consulted with the grain industry and included many of their recommendations in the report.

"This plan is important for the grain producers, the farmers, our customers and for CN, but also showing what we can do is important for Canada's reputation abroad, because we're an export county, and moving grain to market is a big part of what we do every year."

He says they will continue to update the plan and provide progress reports as they move through the crop year.

CN Rail is also required to submit a plan by Monday, October 1 outlining how they'll move grain along with other commodities during the winter season.