Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) and Americold Realty Trust will begin refrigerated rail service between Mexico, the United States, and Canada starting next July .
Keith Creel, president and CEO of CPKC, said during his participation in Wolfe Research’s 2025 Global Transportation and Industry Conference that they will move frozen meats and vegetables between the three countries .
“It’s a completely new product in the rail space, where we’re transporting meat from the United States to Mexico and vegetables from Mexico to the United States and Canada,” he explained.
He also noted that a facility for these types of products was built in Salinas Victoria, Mexico, and has already been approved by the Mexican government.
It is worth remembering that Americold began construction of this storage space in Kansas City, Missouri , with an investment of 127 million dollars (mdd) , has 335 thousand square feet and will support CPKC’s Mexico Midwest Express (MMX) service .
Also, as part of this service, the railroad added 1,000 new 53-foot refrigerated intermodal containers to its network , offering more shipping options to customers using the MMX. These units ensure that products requiring temperature protection are transported safely in a fast, reliable, and fuel-efficient service that provides alternatives and increased competition to North American supply chains.
The two companies established a strategic collaboration in June 2023 to optimize temperature-controlled logistics in North America.
Americold plans to invest between $500 million and $1 billion over the next five to 10 years in development projects with CPKC and its other strategic partner, DP World .
Regarding passenger rail projects in Mexico, Keith Creel indicated that with the government’s decision to run these trains on separate, parallel lines, freight operations will continue.
“They’re going to build a dedicated passenger line so we don’t have to mix it with freight transport, so we can continue operating freight trains,” he emphasized.
He commented that Mexican authorities see benefits in not only getting people off the roads and onto rail, but also trucks, “which is good for our industry.”
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