On Union Pacific’s April 22 1Q2021 earnings call, chief executive Lance Fritz was peppered with questions about the potential implications of Canadian Pacific or CN acquiring Kansas City Southern. Following is a transcript (edited for clarity) of Fritz’s responses to those questions.
Just when we thought Railway Age would get a brief break from publishing letters about mergers, here’s another one, from the North Dakota Grain Dealers Association (NDGDA) to the Surface Transportation Board re-iterating its support of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern combination.
The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Amtrak and New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) have announced two alternatives to transform their separate concourses into one “open, light-filled” space in the existing Penn Station.
Currently deployed around the world on some five-dozen rail transit lines, Thales’ Urban Rail Signaling solution SelTrac™ CBTC (Communications-Based Train Control) technology is now in its eighth generation.
Knorr Brake Company LLC (KBC), the U.S. passenger rail subsidiary of Knorr-Bremse, has secured a subcontract with Stadler US Inc. to supply braking systems for 254 railcars (127 two-car sets) Stadler is building for MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority). Exact contract terms were undisclosed; KBC said the amount is a “lower-double-digit million-euro sum.”
While “encouraged by the improving trends for our business and the economy as a whole,” market uncertainty due to the pandemic remains a headwind, Trinity Industries President and CEO Jean Savage reported during a April 22 earnings announcement, noting “[w]e are focused on what is more within our control in optimizing our cost structure and balance sheet.”
Due in large part to weather-related network disruptions, Union Pacific’s first-quarter 2021 financials lagged those of the prior-year period, but North America’s largest Class I expressed confidence that business will improve, and affirmed its guidance.
“The strong demand environment, particularly across bulk, merchandise and domestic intermodal, coupled with our commitment to the foundations of Precision Scheduled Railroading enabled our success in the first quarter,” Canadian Pacific (CP) President and CEO Keith Creel reported during the merger-bound railroad’s earnings announcement.
Resurrecting a position that was abolished more than 40 years ago, the U.S. Department of Transportation is appointing a Chief Science Officer for the entire agency, and has taken additional steps “to act on the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to address the climate emergency and restore scientific integrity.” And the Federal Transit Administration has made available $10 million in TOD (transit-oriented development) planning grant funds.
![“[W]e are eager to get to work,” growing the River Ridge Commerce Center community, OmniTRAX CEO Dean Piacente said.](https://www.railwayage.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/RiverRidge2-315x168.png)
OmniTRAX has teamed with River Ridge Development Authority to further develop a southern Indiana industrial park that connects with CSX.
Siemens Mobility has been selected as the preferred bidder to replace a large portion of Amtrak’s aging single-level railcar fleet.
Resiliency is among the key takeaways from Sergio Rebelo, who kicked off the recent 2021 Rail Equipment Finance (REF) Virtual Conference. He is the MUFG Bank Distinguished Professor of International Finance at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
After a thorough review of my mergers and acquisitions career work, I have reached the conclusion that the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern (“CPKC”) combination has several less-than-optimal locations where overall system performance affecting three nations—the U.S., Mexico and Canada—could be addressed and improved during Surface Transportation Board review.
At Cowen and Company, we are updating our rail models to reflect carload data and costs associated with severe weather and fuel in the first quarter.
As Amtrak marks its 50th anniversary, many are reflecting on the railroad’s past half-century and wondering how it will do in the next.
FINANCIAL EDGE, RAILWAY AGE APRIL 2021 ISSUE: The tone and context of Railway Age’s Next-Gen Freight Rail conference held virtually on March 10, 2021 changes rapidly when viewed through the blockbuster announcement of Canadian Pacific’s (CP) acquisition of Kansas City Southern (KCS).
