Canadian Pacific (CP) on Dec. 9, 2015 applauded the arbitration decision and agreement between CP and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), the union representing CP’s Canadian conductors and locomotive engineers.
“Take Canadian Pacific (CP) CEO Hunter Harrison out of the equation and CP’s offer to Norfolk Southern (NS) and its shareholders would have little chance of getting anywhere, in our opinion,” said Managing Director and Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor Jason Seidl.
Canadian Pacific’s pursuit of Norfolk Southern has taken on the tone of a rough-and-tumble yet well-intentioned star athlete pulling out all the stops to capture the heart of his dream woman, a relationship-shy political science major who continues to resist her suitor’s advances with perfectly logical yet unemotional reasons why the two aren’t right for each other.
About 71% of rail shippers surveyed by Cowen and Company do not support a merger between Canadian Pacific (CP) and Norfolk Southern (NS), even though opposition to a Class I merger per se has dropped, the company reported on Dec. 7, 2015.
Canadian Pacific Railway on Dec. 3, 2015 ratified a multi-year collective agreement with the 300 locomotive engineers, assistant engineers, conductors and brakemen on CP U.S. subsidiary Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railway (DM&E) represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET).
The Canadian Pacific (CP) Holiday Train program is ready to go for its 17th year, bringing with it food, cash donations and awareness to local food banks and food shelves across North America, the railroad announced Nov. 26, 2015.
Levitation takes two forms among railroads—magnetic levitation relating to futuristic high-speed passenger transport, and stock levitation associated with bidding wars for asset control.
The day after confirming that it had made an offer to Norfolk Southern—and following NS’s tepid response—Canadian Pacific on Nov. 18, 2015 disclosed the contents of the offer letter it sent to NS chief executive Jim Squires “to clarify the details of a proposal that would result in the creation of a pro-competitive, pro-customer, coast-to-coast transportation solution.”
It’s official: Canadian Pacific on Nov. 17, 2015 sent an offer letter to Norfolk Southern proposing a merger (an acquisition, really) “that would create a transcontinental railroad with the scale and reach to deliver improved levels of service to customers and communities while enhancing competition and creating significant shareholder value.” On Nov. 18, CP, in response to NS’s tepid response to the initial offer, provided “full disclosure.”
Few obstacles bedevil railroads as has the Mississippi River. Spanning it was the nation’s first rail bridge in 1856—promptly assaulted by steamboat Effie Afton. While the bridge was repaired and more constructed, the river remains a problematic divide, separating, with few exceptions, eastern railroads from those operating in the West and producing grueling interchange bottlenecks at Chicago.
