The CPKC shield, featuring a beaver and maple leaf, both national symbols of Canada. The initials of the three preceding railroads are also visible.

(By CPKC - [1], Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73546570)

CANADIAN PACIFIC KANSAS CITY (CPKC)

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, doing business as CPKC, is a Class I railroad in North America that resulted from the merger of Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) and Kansas City Southern (KCS) on April 14, 2023. It is the first and only single-line railway connecting Canada, Mexico, and the United States, operating approximately 20,000 mi (32,000 km) of rail across the three countries. CPKC is headquartered in Calgary and led by Keith Creel as President and CEO.

CPKC system map, showing CP tracks in red and KCS in black. Does not include trackage rights. Click to enlarge.

(By Surface Transportation Board - https://www.cp-kcsmergereis.com/img/CP-KCS-Overview-Map.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128166568)

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. CN's merger attempt would be blocked by a ruling by 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.

On September 12, 2021, KCS accepted a new $31 billion offer from CP. 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. 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. Final approval of the deal was granted on March 15, 2023, and the merger was completed on April 14, 2023.

The merger created the first and only single-line railway connecting Canada, the U.S. and Mexico with an approximately 20,000 mi (32,000-km) network. Fully integrating the two railroads is expected to take up to three years.

The company announced on April 21, 2023, 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. 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 Railroad and BNSF Railway. 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.

Operations

CPKC operates approximately 20,000 mi (32,000 km) of rail across Canada, Mexico and the United States. As of April 2023, CPKC has around 20,000 employees. CPKC has its global headquarters in Calgary with its U.S headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, and its Mexico headquarters in Mexico City and Monterrey.

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, 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.

According to Trains Magazine, CPKC employees will select the new locomotive livery.

Overview

Headquarters: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Key people: Keith Creel (President and CEO)
Locale: Canada, Mexico and United States
Dates of operation: April 14, 2023–present
Predecessors: Canadian Pacific Railway, Kansas City Southern
Technical
Track gauge: 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Length 32,000 km or 20,000 mi
Website: cpkcr.com

See Also:

Railroads A-Z