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Metra: CP-KCS Merger Would Result in ‘1,200-percent’ Increase in Train Delays

The commuter agency alleges that Canadian Pacific has not properly considered the impact its merger with Kansas City Southern would have on passenger service. Photo by Justin Franz. 

Metra: CP-KCS Merger Would Result in ‘1,200-percent’ Increase in Train Delays

By Justin Franz 

CHICAGO — Metra officials said Canadian Pacific has failed to consider how its merger with Kansas City Southern might impact commuter rail service in Chicagoland and that if it’s approved without conditions it could result in a “1,200 percent” increase in passenger train delays. 

That dramatic figure, measured by every 100 train miles on Metra, was outlined in a filing with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board recently. The filing comes as the federal regulator continues to consider the CP-KCS combination, which would be the largest railroad merger in a generation. Metra isn’t the only entity to raise concerns about the proposed merger in recent weeks: A number of community groups, politicians and other railroads have been critical of it. But few comments have been as dramatic as those filed by Metra.

In its filing — which revised a previous comment earlier this year — Metra said it appears CP did not take into account the number of passenger trains that run on its Milwaukee District line northwest of the city, assuming that all track capacity could be used for freights. Metra goes on to state that approving the merger with no conditions would result in “substantial and problematic” impacts on the region’s passengers. 

One solution, Metra suggested, was to let it do all of the dispatching in the region, allowing it to prioritize passengers over freight (While Metra owns the Milwaukee Distract track, it’s dispatched by CP, the filing states). If that can’t happen, then Metra would not support the merger. 

CP has said it wants to reduce freight and passenger congestion in the Chicago area by avoiding the area altogether and putting more traffic on its Marquette Subdivision in Iowa. But according to a Metra analysis, the line just doesn’t have the capacity to do that. 

This article was posted on: June 15, 2022