Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway won't be seeking to buy each other's lines any time soon. But officials from both railroads say they may share support services in an attempt to deal with overcapacity in eastern Canada.
In February, CP rejected a CN offer to buy CP's railway assets east of Winnipeg.
"We weren't able to reach an agreement," says Terry Liston, director of corporate services for St. Lawrence & Hudson Railway (SL&H), CP's eastern subsidiary.
That doesn't mean the railroads aren't working to develop some kind of relationship in the East.
"With the decision not to purse the purchase of the SL&H, CN and SL&H are looking at the possibility of coproduction — sharing support services, and also lines," Liston says. "The philosophy is to be market neutral, not to give one railroad an advantage."
That philosophy might be difficult to preserve, particularly as merger activity (and the subsequent fallout) continues to complicate Northern American rail route maps.
At some point, the two railroads may need to integrate in more concrete ways. Until then, officials at CN and CP know they'll need to stop viewing each other as "the enemy."
"What's very encouraging [this time] is that we're going forward without acrimony, and with good feelings," Liston says.
No timetable has been established on the support-services sharing front.
— Pat Foran
Source: The April 1997 issue of Progressive Railroading
