Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern officially merge

CPKC to service US, Canada and Mexico

Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern are now one company. (Photos: CP & Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Friday marks the first day of Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), the combined company of Canadian Pacific (NYSE: CP) and Kansas City Southern, and ends the journey that officially started just over two years ago in March 2021 when CP first declared publicly its interest in merging with KCS.

“Today, we celebrate this historic combination creating a truly unique single-line rail network that begins a new chapter of railroad history in North America,” CPKC President and Chief Executive Officer Keith Creel said in a news release. “As we mark this once-in-a-lifetime occasion by driving the Final Spike in Kansas City, Missouri, where CP and KCS come together, we stand ready to bring new competition into the North American rail industry at a time when our supply chains have never needed it more.”

The combined network will span across both coasts of Canada, traverse through the U.S. Midwest and reach several points in Mexico, including the Port of Lázaro Cárdenas on Mexico’s Pacific coast. CP has said the network offers single-line service to shippers.

“This unmatched CPKC network will give our customers new options and expanded reach to more markets as we provide reliable rail service, take trucks off public roads and raise the bar on rail safety by expanding CP’s industry-leading safety practices,” Creel said. “The public, environmental, competitive and safety benefits of this historic combination are extraordinary for our railroaders, communities, rail customers and the North American economy.”

CPKC’s headquarters will be in Calgary, Alberta, although CP has said previously that it would maintain key KCS offices in the U.S. 

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    Joanna Marsh

    Joanna is a Washington, DC-based writer covering the freight railroad industry. She has worked for Argus Media as a contributing reporter for Argus Rail Business and as a market reporter for Argus Coal Daily.