Canadian Pacific Kansas City
standard gauge | |
Length | 32,000 km (20,000 mi) |
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Other | |
Website | cpkcr |
CPKC | |
Company type | Public |
Industry | Rail transport |
Predecessors | |
Founded | April 14, 2023 |
Headquarters | Calgary, Alberta , |
Areas served |
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Key people |
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Number of employees | 20,000 |
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, doing business as CPKC, is a Canadian railway holding company that resulted from the merger of Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) and Kansas City Southern (KCS) on April 14, 2023. It is the first and currently the only single-line railway connecting Canada, Mexico, and the United States, operating approximately 32,000 kilometres (20,000 mi) of rail across the three countries. CPKC is headquartered in Calgary and led by Keith Creel as President and CEO.
History
Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) announced on March 21, 2021, that it was planning to purchase Kansas City Southern (KCS) for US $29 billion. A competing offer was made by Canadian National Railway (CN) on April 20, 2021, at $33.7 billion.[1] CN's merger attempt was blocked by a ruling of the US Surface Transportation Board (STB) in August 2021 that the company could not use a voting trust to assume control of KCS, due to concerns about potentially reduced competition in the railroad industry.[2]
On September 12, 2021, KCS accepted a new $31 billion offer from CP. Three days later, KCS confirmed that it had terminated its agreement with CN and would support CP's revised offer.[3] KCS's shareholders voted to approve the merger on December 10, 2021. Though CP's offer was lower than the offer made by CN, the STB permitted CP to use a voting trust to take control of KCS, as the deal did not have the same anti-competitive issues.[2] The voting trust allowed CP to become the beneficial owner of KCS in December 2021, but the two railroads operated independently until receiving approval for a merger of operations from the STB.[4][5]
Keith Creel, President and CEO of CP and future CEO of the merged company, chose the name for the new company as a way to honor the long history of the two companies.[6]
The two companies demanded that CPKC perform construction work on new sidings on both the lines that meet in the Houston area and on Brownsville Subdivision between Placedo and Robstown, near Corpus Christi, where CPKC trains leave the UP tracks in South Texas.[9]
Canadian National, who had already lost the battle against CP over the KCS acquisition, in hearings before the STB presented a plan to acquire the KCS line linking Kansas City to
Despite all the objections raised at the hearings, the final approval of the merger came on March 15, 2023, and the merger was completed on April 14, 2023.[15][16][17]
The merger created the first and only single-line railway connecting Canada, the U.S. and Mexico with an approximately 32,000-kilometre (20,000 mi) network.[18] Fully integrating the two railroads is expected to take up to three years.[18]
Seven days after the merger, the company announced that it had landed its first major contract, handling Schneider National intermodal traffic between the U.S. and Mexico. On April 25, it signed a similar agreement with Knight-Swift.[19] The announcement was seen as backing up pre-merger projections that CPKC's single-line service would enable it to compete in the Chicago–Mexico corridor that had been dominated by the Union Pacific and BNSF.[20] In response, on April 24, Union Pacific responded by announcing a partnership with Canadian National Railway and Grupo México (owner of Ferromex and Ferrosur) to work together to accelerate the exchange of intermodal traffic between Mexico and Chicago or further north into Canada.[21]
On May 11, 2023, CPKC launched its new service "Mexico Midwest Express (MMX)", numbered I180 and I181, which is mainly oriented to intermodal and automobile transportation, and also provides an approximate travel time of 98 hours between Chicago and Kansas City to
On June 28, 2023, CPKC announced the intent to jointly acquire with
On April 24, 2024, as part of the company's first anniversary celebrations, the Steam locomotive CPR #2816 known as "The Empress" was launched on a historic transnational tour that will travel most of CPKC's network from Calgary, ending June 25 in Mexico City.[27][28]
Operations
CPKC operates approximately 32,000 kilometres (20,000 mi) of rail across Canada, Mexico and the United States.[18] As of April 2023, CPKC has around 20,000 employees.[18] CPKC has its global headquarters in Calgary, Alberta Canada with its U.S headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, and its Mexico headquarters in Mexico City and Monterrey.[29]
Company executives said that merging CP and KCS would be "straightforward" because the railroads only touch at Kansas City, and interchange volumes were relatively low, with about four trains per day as of September 2021. They also cited that the two companies largely used the same back-office information technology systems.[30]
The railroad maintains its own police force, the
Sponsorships
CPKC inherited and renewed CP's existing sponsorship of the Canadian Women's Open golf tournament in July 2023, extending it through 2026.[31]
In October 2023, CPKC and the Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League announced a 10-year naming rights deal for the Current's new stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, the first stadium ever constructed specifically for a professional women's sports team.[32][33]
References
- ^ "CN steps up with $33B offer for Kansas City Southern, besting CP's $25B bid". CBC News. April 20, 2021.
- ^ a b "Kansas City Southern picks Canadian Pacific's $31 billion bid for railroad". CNBC. September 12, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
- ^ Atkins, Eric (September 15, 2021). "Kansas City Southern formally scraps CN takeover agreement, backs rival CP offer". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
- Kansas City Business Journal. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
- ^ The great train takeover. Financial Tribune (Video). May 2, 2022. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
- ^ Stephens, Bill (September 20, 2021). "CP CEO Keith Creel talks historic KCS merger, CPKC name, operations". Trains. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
- ^ Stephens, Bill (October 25, 2022). "CP and KCS defend merger, rebut claims of critics including other Class I lines and Metra". Trains. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
- ^ Stephens, Bill (October 25, 2022). "Union Pacific: Video of KCS train misled federal regulators about Houston terminal". Trains. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
- ^ Stephens, Bill (July 14, 2022). "BNSF claims CP-KCS merger will throw Houston terminal into gridlock". Trains. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ https://www.stopcpkc.com/
- ^ https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/metra-opposes-cp-kcs-merger-in-regulatory-filing/
- ^ Stephens, Bill (February 23, 2022). "Canadian National details KCS Springfield Line improvement plans, traffic projections". Trains. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
- ^ Stephens, Bill (October 24, 2022). "CN would accept trackage rights as alternative to divestiture of KCS Springfield Line (updated)". Trains. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
- ^ Luczak, Marybeth (March 24, 2023). "STB Rejects CN's Springfield Line Bid". Railway Age. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
- ^ Reynolds, Christopher (April 14, 2023). "CP Rail, Kansas City Southern merger clears path for more cargo, but hitches remain". CBC News. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
- ^ https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/metra-opposes-cp-kcs-merger-in-regulatory-filing/
- ^ a b c d "CPKC Drives Ceremonial Final Spike, Joining Three Nations". Railway Age. April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
- ^ Luczak, Marybeth (April 25, 2023). "CPKC, Knight-Swift Team on Truckload Intermodal Service". Railway Age. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
- ^ Stephens, Bill (April 21, 2023). "CPKC to handle Schneider's cross-border intermodal shipments between the Midwest and Mexico". Trains. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
- ^ Funk, Josh (April 24, 2023). "3 railroads join up to compete with CPKC to serve Mexico". ABC News. Associated Press. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
- ^ https://www.railwayage.com/intermodal/cpkc-launches-mexico-midwest-express-intermodal-service
- ^ https://www.railwayage.com/intermodal/cp-first-lazaro-cardenas-chicago-interline-service-trip/
- ^ "STB sets schedules to consider CPKC, CSX plan to acquire G&W short line". Progressive Railroading. December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
- ^ Stephens, Bill (June 28, 2023). "CPKC and CSX to create direct interchange via G&W short line in Alabama". Trains. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
- ^ Stephens, Bill (July 10, 2023). "CPKC-CSX deal over Meridian & Bigbee shortcut finally realizes Mike Haverty's vision: Analysis". Trains. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
- ^ "CPKC Announces Schedule For 2816 'Final Spike' Tour". www.railfan.com. February 10, 2024. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
- ^ "Final Spike Anniversary Steam Tour". www.railfan.com. April 26, 2024. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
- ^ Hyatt, Kim (March 21, 2021). "Minneapolis no longer Canadian Pacific's U.S. headquarters in $25B deal". Star Tribune. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
- ^ Stephens, Bill (September 20, 2021). "CP CEO Keith Creel talks historic KCS merger, CPKC name, operations". Trains. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
- ^ "Canadian Pacific Kansas City extends sponsorship of LPGA's Canadian Women's Open". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
- ^ "Kansas City Current and CPKC Announce Historic Stadium Naming Rights Agreement - Kansas City Current". www.kansascitycurrent.com. October 19, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ "Kansas City Current and CPKC Announce Historic Stadium Naming Rights Agreement". Yahoo Finance. October 19, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.