CPKC Unveils New Herald

The newly formed Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway unveiled its herald last week and it looks a lot like an existing CP herald.

The new symbol was shown off during a ceremonial “final spike” event on Friday (April 14) in Kansas City to mark the formal consummation of the merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.

KCS, the smallest of the then seven Class 1 North American railroad systems was the subject of an acquisition battle two years ago between CP and Canadian National.

Although CPKC is the only Class 1 system to serve the United States, Canada and Mexico, it is still the smallest system in terms of total miles of track.

The new CPKC herald modifies the CP golden beaver shield by adding in bold red the initials CPKC at the bottom. The herald also contains the initials of the three predecessor companies that make up CPKC.

CPKC Debuts Today

The ranks of North American Class 1 Railroads will shrink by one today with the consummation of the merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.

The debut of Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway comes a month after the merger was approved by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.

Earlier the merger had been approved by regulatory authorities in Mexico and Canada.

CPKC will have 19,200 miles of track but will still be the smallest of North America’s six Class 1 Railroads.

A ceremony to commemorate the merger is to be held today in Kansas City, Missouri.

It is not yet clear if the new CPKC Railway will soon announce a new locomotive livery. The company, though, has taken steps to begin rebranding itself on its social media accounts.

Ft.WRHS Acquires Ex-CP Observation Dome Car

The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society has acquired a former Canadian Pacific dome-sleeper-observation car that will be assigned to its Indiana Rail Experience excursions.

The car, Riding Mountain Park, is being restored at the society’s shops in New Haven, Indiana.

The overhaul is expected to cost $250,000 as workers address issues with the HVAC systems and spruce up the interior furnishings.

A private donor contributed the money used to purchase the car. The society is seeking donations to be used to pay for the car’s overhaul.

It is the third streamliner era rail car the FtWHS has acquired this year. Earlier, it bought two former Pennsylvania Railroad cars, Collinsville Inn and Franklin Inn, from the Washington Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.

Riding Mountain Park was once a regular on the Toronto-Vancouver Canadian.

It has much of its original interior and artwork and has for the past decade been in storage on the Adrian & Blissfield Rail Road in Michigan.  

Amtrak Says CP Will Allow Passenger Expansion

Amtrak said in a brief filed with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board that Canadian Pacific has agreed to back the passenger carrier’s efforts to expand service in several locations, including Michigan.

The brief was the final filing by Amtrak in the proposed merger of CP and Kansas City Southern.

CP has agree to allow Amtrak to institute new service between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, that would connect at the latter with trains of VIA Rail Canada. The service would use a tunnel under the Detroit River that is owned by CP.

No details about that proposed service have been released nor is there a timeline for its implementation.

Amtrak’s current Wolverine Service between Chicago and Detroit continues northward to suburban Pontiac. One or more of those trains would have to be diverted to Windsor.

The existing Detroit Amtrak station is not located on the route into Windsor.

Amtrak’ s brief described CP as a “reliable partner in working with Amtrak to provide safe, efficient and effective passenger-rail services.”

The brief said CP also agreed to allow Amtrak to add other additional or new services including:

• Expansion on the CP-owned portion of the Hiawatha Service route between Chicago and Milwaukee;

• Between Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, on lines owned by CP; 

• Between New Orleans (IC Junction) and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on a KCS line.

CP also has agreed to participate in a study with Amtrak, Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific and various governmental agencies of implementing new service between Dallas and Meridian, Mississippi.

Comment Period Extended on CP-KCS Merger

The deadline to comment on the draft environmental analysis of the proposed merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern has been extended to Oct. 14.

The U.S. Surface Transportation Board said on Tuesday it extended the deadline at the request of officials from “affected communities.”

The notice extending the comment period noted “no further extensions of time will be granted” after the October due date.”

A final environmental analysis will be issued after the comment period closes.

Comments on the draft analysis may be submitted electronically on the Board-sponsored project website or the Board’s website by clicking on the “E-FILING” link.

Committee Gives CP-KCS Merger an OK

An interagency federal government committee has given its approval of the proposed merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is authorized to review certain transactions involving foreign investment and certain real estate transactions by foreign entities to determine their effect on national security.

The merger is still being reviewed by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board. That review is expected to be completed by early 2023.

STB Hearings Set for CP-KCS Merger

Three days of public hearings will be held in September by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board as it continues to review the proposed merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.

The hearings will be held at STB headquarters in Washington on Sept. 28, 29 and 30 and will be livestreamed online.

In a news release, regulators said the deadline to register to speak during the hearings will be Sept. 14. It also set an Oct. 14 deadline for submission of briefs in the case. After that date the STB will close the record on the merger.

By federal law regulators are required to issue a ruling in a merger proceeding within 90 days after the close of the record unless an environmental analysis has not been completed.

That would push the decision date for the merger to as late as mid-January with the decision becoming effective 30 days later.

Biden Names PEB Members

Three members of a presidential emergency board have been named by President Joseph Biden.
they are Ira Jaffe, as chair, and members David Twomey and Barbara Deinhardt,

The board will investigate over the next 30 days the impasse over a new labor contract between major railroads and their unions and make recommendations for resolving the stalemate.

The railroads and unions can accept or reject the recommendations.

If the latter happens, there will be another 30-day period before the 13 unions can strike or management can lock out its employees. That could occur as early as Sept 18.

If either a strike or lockout occurs, Congress could step in and order an end to the strike or the lockout. Congress could also impose terms of a new contract.

Jaffee is a lecturer in law at The George Washington University who has served as a neutral arbitrator in labor disputes since 1981. He has been named to various PEBs by presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Twomey is a law professor at Boston College and the author of textbooks on labor, employment and business law. He has served on seven previous PEBs.

Deinhardt is an independent arbitrator who has chaired the New York State Employment Relations Board and State Workers’ Compensation Board. She served as a member of PEB No. 248 and was appointed to three successive terms on the Foreign Service Grievance Board and one PEB.

The PEB appointed by Biden last week in an executive order will review the wage, benefits and work rules that are in dispute.

CSX is participating in the national contract talks only on fringe benefits and is negotiating separately on wages and work rules with two of its unions, BLET and SMART-TD. Canadian Pacific is negotiating separately with all of its unions.

CP-KCS Want Merger Without Conditions

Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern have asked the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to approve their merger without conditions.

The two recently filed a 4,300-document with the STB in which they sought to rebut requests for conditions being made by other railroads and interested parties.

CP-KCS content that their merger is compellingly in the public interest and should be approved without conditions “beyond those embodying the commitments Applicants are making.”

Those commitments, including some made to Amtrak, are detailed in the document.

CP-KCS noted that no shipper  or shipper association has suggested that the merger be denied.

CP Work Stoppage Ends, Sides Agree to Submit their Dispute to Binding Arbitration

Canadian Pacific began resuming operations on Tuesday after it and one of its unions agreed to submit their contract dispute to binding arbitration.

The railroad began shutting down on Sunday in a Iabor dispute involving 3,000 locomotive engineers, conductors, and train and yard workers represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference.

At the time, CP described it as a strike while the union described it as a lockout, although TCRC later pronounced it both.

Negotiations for a new contract had been ongoing since last September with the two sides at odds over wages, pensions and work rules.

In recent weeks the talks have been mediated by a member of the Canadian Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

In a statement, the union said that although binding arbitration is not its preferred method of resolving disputes, it was able to “negotiate terms and conditions that were in the best interest of our members.”

The union said it would have no further comment until the arbitration process is completed.