Rail

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. is preparing to make a new, higher bid for Kansas City Southern, in an effort to usurp the U.S. railroad’s pending deal with rival Canadian National Railway Co., the Wall Street Journal reported.

Under fire from importers and exporters for service cutbacks and from rail employees for lay-offs and followed by a seven-day rail service suspension from West Coast ports in July, Union Pacific disclosed that it has accumulated approximately $7 billion for “share repurchases.”

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. called on Kansas City Southern shareholders to vote against a $30 billion merger agreement with Canadian National Railway Co., citing regulatory risks in its larger rival’s proposal.

The National Railway Labor Conference (NRLC) announced today that an arbitrator has issued a final and binding decision providing for the resumption of negotiations over train crew size and staffing with the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Union – Transportation Division (SMART-TD), the union that represents conductors in the freight rail industry. Rejecting the union’s arguments, the arbitrator found that standard moratorium language in decades-old labor agreements does not bar negotiations over crew size on freight trains.

Canadian National Railway Co. is cashing in on a commodities boom that’s fueling demand for exports from Canada.

The decision by the Union Pacific (UP) railroad to suspend service from West Coast ports to Chicago for one week could be positive, according to Noel Hacegaba, deputy executive director, Port of Long Beach.