The CEO will leave the railway company in January, following calls for his resignation after the firm’s failed attempt to acquire Kansas City Southern Railway. In a conference call Tuesday, Ruest did not state why he was retiring, and said he may stay on as CEO if his replacement isn’t found by January. (The Logic)

Talking point: TCI Fund Management, the rail company’s largest shareholder, proposed replacing Ruest with former CN executive Jim Vena last month when the Kansas City deal fell through. The investor also put forward four rail and logistics veterans to replace current board members after TCI founder Chris Hohn said CN had been “underperforming for too long” and “will continue to lag its peers under a board that lacks the right railroad experience and operational expertise.” This is Hohn’s second recent victory from his activism at the rail company. This past spring, investors of both CN and CP—in which TCI also invests—voted in favour of environmental resolutions that Hohn had championed through his Say on Climate campaign.