, the merger of North America's two smallest Class 1 railways became official Friday morning as CEO Keith Creel drove home a platinum spike at a ceremony in Kansas City, Mo.
He pointed to grain, lumber and shipping containers as key areas for growth, including a stronger competitive position against trucking rivals. Some hurdles remain, however, including labour shortages, falling freight levels and logistical snags. In the short term, rail traffic is waning amid a wobbly economic outlook for the year. In March, container traffic in Canada dropped nearly 12 per cent year over year, according to the National Bank of Canada.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City broke ground Friday on a new yard office for its U.S. operations centre in Kansas City, Mo., though its headquarters remains in Calgary. CPKC will operate almost 33,000 kilometres of rail and employ nearly 20,000 people. Last month's green light from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board cleared the final hurdle in CP Rail's bid to buy KCS.