NW Illinois News

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) approved a requested $31 billion merger between the Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern railways, a Trains.com article said this week.

The merger will create the first transcontinental railroad running from Canada through the U.S. and into Mexico, with Canadian Pacific Kansas City's (CPKC) headquarters located in both Calgary, Alberta, and Kansas City, Mo. The merger will be effective from April 14 and will impact much of the Chicago area and communities along the Mississippi River. The STB signed off on the decision due to an expected increase in railroad competition, noting that CPKC will still be one of the smallest Class I railways while also removing tens of thousands of truckload shipments from the roads each year.

Affected communities have long voiced their opposition to the merger, concerned about the impact of higher traffic rates and environmental risks associated with busier railroad lines, Trains.com said in 2021. Several state representatives from across the U.S. have also opposed the merger, asking for delays in the decision following the East Palestine derailment so that they could create better safety decisions and perform more in-depth environmental impact studies. A coalition made up of communities and leaders in the DuPage and northern Chicago areas has opposed the merger due to the potential for an increase in freight traffic, with some towns already seeing triple the daily amount of traffic as before. Communities such as Roselle have been fighting the merger for over a year, sending more than 150 messages to federal representatives and rail companies voicing their concerns.

The CPKC routes will run from Vancouver through much of Canada before entering North Dakota, running through Minnesota and into Milwaukee, where it will continue into the Chicago area before moving west along eastern Iowa into Kansas City. Some lines will also run from Toronto into Detroit and along southern Michigan before entering Chicago. From Kansas City, the line will flow south along the Mississippi River and southeastern Texas before entering Mexico. The connection also holds the potential for Amtrak passenger trains to run from Canada to Mexico in the future.

The STB held its first-ever press conference this week to explain its rationale behind the merger, a news release from the board said. Chairman Martin Oberman stated that the STB wanted to be as transparent and honest as possible while offering its explanation, adding that the board remains committed to protecting the interests and welfare of all U.S. citizens. He also elaborated on several safety factors that were imposed on the merger prior to its approval.

"I want to talk about safety and the environment for a moment," Oberman said in the press conference. "It’s no secret, and we are well aware of the very real and legitimate public concern over rail safety. It’s always been there but certainly has come to the fore as a result of the derailment in East Palestine. And we’ve heard, from many people, members of Congress, concerned citizens, and people fearful for their own neighborhoods. Now, in fact, it is a routine part of the board’s consideration of rail acquisition to review the safety aspects of the transaction. So we were already well underway in reviewing, documenting and measuring what the safety aspects of the transaction are.

"If there is a problem in this country about the safe transportation of hazardous materials on rail—and there is some problem obviously—safety can and always must be improved, and zero accidents should be what we strive for. It is a problem nationwide. It is not a problem caused by or resulting from this merger. In fact, to the extent hazardous materials can be moved on rail as opposed to highways, we are better off the more traffic that can be moved to rail."