I’ve been working on a project in a network management sim in central Nova Scotia, and as a result I’ve been recreating the CN lines through the region (Bedford, Dartmouth, Springhill subs, etc.) as a starting point. Part of this project has involved recreating the signals along those lines. I recently noticed in Street View imagery (mostly from August 2025), and also in satellite imagery from late October 2023, that CN appears to have installed fresh signals along the Springhill sub, and possibly elsewhere. From narrowing down dates it looks like these were put in sometime in 2022 or early 2023, possibly replacing searchlight signals from as long ago as the 70s or even the 40s (though I’m not sure about that). These are hooded VCLs on masts and appear to be rather frequently installed - in some cases barely a mile and a half apart, and on average probably about two miles apart. Keep in mind the Springhill subdivision is a single-track line with only a couple signaled sidings (themselves also 1.5-2ish miles in length) that handles no more than 7-8 trains per day.
All this being said, I’ve gone looking and haven’t found any statements or releases from CN, or any other comments about it anywhere on the internet. I’m not quite sure what the reason is for this relatively major capacity upgrade - as far as I know, CN’s only plan to add any more trains was for a single possible extra/on-demand intermodal out of Halifax.
If anyone in the Halifax/Truro/Amherst/Moncton area of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, or elsewhere, knows more about this, I would love to hear about it. Any news on train frequency changes, track upgrades, or signaling upgrades is welcome!