This morning (March 15), the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) announced its decision to allow the merger of two of our nation’s seven Class I railroads.
The Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP) has now been given the federal clearance needed to finalize its agreement to acquire the Kansas City Southern (KCS) Railway Company.
The merger of the two corporate giants has been in the works since the fall of 2021 and has included an extensive amount of analysis by the STB on the ripple effects of the merger through the industry and for the supply chain as a whole. In short, the board found the net result of this merger to be a positive both economically and environmentally.
Expectation from the STB is that this merger will result in an addition of 800 new operating positions in the U.S.
In addition to that, the board also put language into their approval that imposes New York Dock labor protective conditions for applicable workers (Member Portal login required to view link).
The merger goes into effect April 14, 2023, and the company will now be know as Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC). There will be an unprecedented seven-year oversight period allowing government regulators to ensure that all parties are living up to the agreed-upon stipulations.