October 17, 2023
Regulatory

CPKC Releases First Merger Oversight Report

Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor

CPKC (William C. Vantuono Photograph)

In accordance with the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) Oversight Decision No. 1, Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) on Oct. 15 provided its initial data submission related to service, operations and competition—a requirement following STB’s approval earlier this year of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern combination to form CPKC, the first single-line, transnational railway connecting Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

CPKC’s initial data submission report (scroll down to download) includes the following:

Interchange Data: requisite monthly data (May 2023-September 2023) relating to interchange volumes at selected gateways since the CP-KCS merger took effect April 14, 2023; monthly interchange data covering the five-year lookback period of April 2018 through April 2023; explanations of the methodologies used by CPKC to calculate car and unit miles associated with reported interchange volumes; and explanations of CPKC’s designation of certain reported data as “Highly Confidential subject to the Protective Order” entered in this proceeding.
Customer Experience Data: requisite weekly customer experience data for the period since the merger (Saturday-to-Friday weeks encompassing the period from April 15, 2023 through Sept. 29, 2023, for metrics not reported separately in Dockets Ex Parte No. 724 and Ex Parte No. 770); explanations of the methodologies CPKC used to calculate the reported metrics; and benchmarks for the three customer experience metrics that underlie CPKC’s Service Action Plan commitments.
Operational Data: requisite weekly data relating to operational metrics for the period since the merger (Saturday-to-Friday weeks encompassing the period from April 15, 2023, through Sept. 29, 2023); weekly data, “to the extent available,” covering the five-year lookback period of April 14, 2018, through April 14, 2023; and explanations of the methodologies CPKC used to calculate the reported metrics, including limitations on the availability of data where applicable.

*Table on CPKC-caused delays to Metra commuter railroad on the Milwaukee District-West and Milwaukee District-North lines. (Chart Courtesy of the CPKC Filing)*

As an example of the required data reported, CPKC provided Table 1 (above) “on delays caused to Metra [commuter rail] trains by CPKC freight trains on Metra’s Milwaukee District-West [‘MD-W’] Line and Milwaukee District-North [‘MD-N’] Line [in Illinois], to the extent Metra provides data and detailed information to CPKC.” The table summarizes the same data by month since May 2023, consistent with how Metra reports its on-time performance data publicly, CPKC said. The table reflects the number and percentage of Metra trains delayed by CPKC freight trains on the MD-W and MD-N lines during each month, and explains the differences between the figures CPKC is reporting and the total “freight train interference” figures reported by Metra in its monthly public on-time performance reports, according to CPKC.