Canadian government to help fund Winnipeg-area rail industrial park

Aerial illustration of planned rail-served industrial park near Winnipeg, Canada

ROSSER, Manitoba — The Canadian government will contribute up to C$18 million toward development of a rail-served industrial park near Winnipeg, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced Wednesday. Funds for the CentrePort Canada project will help pay for an additional switch connecting to the adjacent Canadian Pacific main line, several kilometers of track within the park, […]

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Conditions placed on CP-KCS merger designed to ensure competition, smooth operations

Red locomotive leads train past passenger station

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators imposed a number of conditions on the merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern, including a novel way of enforcing the railways’ promise to not tamper with current interchanges. Nearly all of the conditions were proposed by CP and KCS themselves as part of the Surface Transportation Board’s merger review […]

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Amtrak, Southern Rail Commission welcome news of CP-KCS merger

Canadian Pacific freight train meets Amtrak train

WASHINGTON — The merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern may be a union of two freight railroads, but it is likely to matter for passenger railroading, as well. Amtrak had formally supported the railroads’ merger application before the Surface Transportation Board. That reflected CP’s backing for passenger operations between New Orleans and Baton […]

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Metra, Chicago suburbs see few concerns addressed in merger decision

People walk across railroad tracks as trains meet in background

WASHINGTON — Commuter rail operator Metra and a group of Chicago suburbs received few of the conditions they had sought when the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger was approved on Wednesday. But that doesn’t mean their concerns couldn’t be addressed later, Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman said during a Wednesday press conference, thanks […]

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Regulators approve Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger (updated)

Red locomotive leads multicolored locomotives in snow

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators today gave the green light to the historic merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern. Their $31.6 billion deal — thought to be the last merger between two Class I railroads — redraws the North American rail map by creating the first railroad linking Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. The […]

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STB schedules Wednesday announcement on CP-KCS merger

Train with red, yellow, and black locomotives

WASHINGTON — A decision appears to be at hand in the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger. The Surface Transportation Board has announced a Wednesday press conference at 11 a.m. EDT in which board Chairman Martin Oberman will deliver remarks “regarding the agency’s decision on the proposed acquisition” of KCS by CP, followed by a Q&A […]

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BLET members ratify agreement with CP, Soo Line (updated)

Logo of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has ratified a new five-year U.S. agreement with Canadian Pacific and its subsidiary Soo Line. The CP/Soo agreement is similar to the national agreement signed in 2022, including a 22% wage increase over the life of the contract, compounding to 24% over the life of […]

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Amtrak seeks expansion of Crescent section to Dallas-Ft. Worth

Amtrak train at station

NEW ORLEANS — Amtrak will apply for a federal grant that, if approved by the Federal Railroad Administration, would pay for 80% of a study of track and station improvements necessary to extend a section of the New York-New Orleans Crescent between Meridian, Miss., and Fort Worth, Texas. Nicole Bucich, Amtrak’s vice president of network […]

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Lac-Mégantic bypass opponents ask for environmental impact study

Map of Lac-Megantic Bypass

MONTREAL — Residents of the area near the planned Lac-Mégantic bypass, as well as environmental groups, are asking the Canadian government for an environmental impact study of the planned bypass route, citing concerns on drinking water resources and wetlands. The Canadian Press reports the groups and individuals have made the request in a letter to […]

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BLET ratifies agreement with KCS and Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern in advance of CP-KCS merger

Logo of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen ratified have ratified a contract agreement with Kansas City Southern and the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern in the event of a KCS-Canadian Pacific merger, and with Pittsburgh’s Union Railroad. Ratification of both agreements was announced March 3. The KCS and DM&E agreement is […]

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Massachusetts senator calls on STB to reject CP-KCS merger

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has asked the STB to deny the CP-KCS merger. Office of Sen. Elizabeth Warren

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), in a letter to Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman, has asked that the STB deny the merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern, saying the merger “would reduce competition in an already highly consolidated market and could cost increased shipping costs.” Warren, in the letter […]

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STB approves appointment of Batory as KCS trustee

Ron Batory

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board on Saturday approved the appointment of Ronald L. Batory as trustee of the CP-Kansas City Southern Voting Trust, succeeding the late David Starling. All five members of the board approved the appointment, although board member Robert Primus did so with a concurrence that maintained his objection to the standard […]

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