OREANDA-NEWS. CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) today officially opened its new employee training center in suburban Chicago. The 55,000-square-foot facility will host up to 250 CN students from across the United States every week, with hands-on training for all key railway jobs.

Claude Mongeau, CN president and chief executive officer, said: "The opening of this state-of-the-art training center is a cornerstone in CN's workforce renewal, which this year will see the hiring of more than 3,500 employees across our North American network.

"Our training campus in Homewood, adjacent to CN's Woodcrest mechanical shop, will enhance our railroader training programs, help us instill a strong safety culture amongst our new hires, and reinforce it across all current employees who are learning new skills or upgrading existing ones.

"The new U.S. training center is located in our busy Chicago Terminal and at the center of CN's U.S. operations. The Chicago area is the largest freight hub in North America and suburban Homewood is home to CN's U.S. headquarters."

The new center will offer courses for jobs ranging from conductor to car mechanic, and from track supervisor to signal maintainer. Employees will receive hands-on training in learning laboratories with equipment such as locomotive simulators and dispatcher stations. Outdoor labs with dedicated rolling stock and other equipment for field training will also be a key focus.

CN has invested USD 25 million in the Homewood training campus and it is the second of two modern employee training centers to open on CN's network this year. Last month CN marked the completion of its new training center in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where up to 350 students from across Canada will train every week.