Canadian Pacific Railway named former Canadian National Railway executive Ed Harris as its new chief operating officer.

Harris had working as a railroad consultant since he retired as CN's executive vice-president of operations in 2007, after more than 30 years in the industry.

Harris was a senior operations official at Illinois Central when CN, Canada's largest railway, bought the U.S. railroad in 1999 and eventually adopted much of its scheduled operating model.

Canadian Pacific, Canada's second largest railroad, also announced that long-time CP executive Jane O'Hagan has been appointed chief marketing officer. (Reuters)