Tracy Robinson

Tracy Robinson is the President and CEO of Canadian National Railway (CN), North America's largest railroad by revenue and the only transcontinental Class I railroad spanning Canada from coast to coast with extensive reach into the U.S. Midwest and Gulf Coast. She assumed the role in February 2022, becoming the first woman to lead a major North American railroad. Robinson brought over 30 years of energy and transportation industry experience, including senior roles at TC Energy (formerly TransCanada) and earlier in her career at Canadian Pacific Railway. Her appointment came after a period of activist investor pressure from TCI Fund Management, which had pushed for leadership changes and operational improvements at CN. Under Robinson's leadership, CN has focused on balancing precision scheduled railroading — the operating model that emphasizes efficiency, asset utilization, and cost discipline — with service reliability and growth investment. She has navigated complex challenges including labor negotiations with multiple unions, regulatory scrutiny on rail safety following high-profile derailments across the industry, and competitive dynamics with Canadian Pacific Kansas City (the merged CPKC railroad). Robinson's decisions on capital expenditure levels, intermodal growth strategy, grain and bulk commodity capacity, and operating ratio targets are the primary drivers of CN's valuation among transportation investors.