“Last year was truly historic,” are the first words read from Keith Creel, President and CEO of Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), in his message to shareholders in the company’s 2023 annual report. And rightfully so. Historic because the merger between Canadian Pacific (CP) and Kansas City Southern (KCS) was finalized, which began operations on April 14, 2023, birthing the first provider of railway services connecting North America in a single line, none other than in the world’s largest commercial zone.
The merger of these Class 1 railway companies also helped boost the region’s competitiveness by strengthening support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and multiple industries based in Canada, the United States, and Mexico through the implementation of new services for the transportation of their goods, even aimed at addressing the significant demand for cargo movement resulting from the phenomenon of production line relocation (nearshoring).
From the first month of operations, CPKC made it clear that it was building a stronger and more diversified network. Hence, it launched the Mexico Midwest Express (MMX), a premium intermodal service offering a single line between Mexico and Chicago, without the need to exchange trains at the border, competitive in both transit times and costs when compared to road transport.
“It’s a service that has been well-received in the market. With service from San Luis Potosí to Chicago, with very good transit times, even 98 hours, competitive; and that even forced the competition to create other similar routes,” said Oscar Del Cueto, President and Executive Representative of the railway in Mexico, in an interview.
In conjunction with this announcement, CPKC also signed a new multi-year agreement with Schneider National, one of the largest providers of transportation and logistics services, to provide new single-line intermodal transportation services in the north-south corridor of the railway connecting Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
To increase its capacity in this freight transportation market, CPKC progressed with the construction of the second section of the international railway bridge in Laredo/Nuevo Laredo, expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
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