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$29 Billion Railroad Merger to Connect U.S., Mexico and Canada


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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/21/business/railroad-merger-us-mexico-canada.html?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage

$29 Billion Railroad Merger to Connect U.S., Mexico and Canada
The deal is an effort by Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern to capitalize on an expected increase in the flow of trade as the three countries rebound from the pandemic.

March 21, 2021
Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern announced plans on Sunday to combine in a $29 billion deal that would create the first railroad network connecting the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Canadian Pacific links major ports on the East and West Coasts between the United States and Canada, while Kansas City Southern connects the United States, Mexico and Panama. The two connect on a single point: a joint facility in Kansas City, Mo., where Kansas City Southern is based.

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No mention of just HOW this would be implemented in Mexico... a country that doesn't have much railway infrastructure at all.  Maybe still truck goods in Mexico up to "point/s" in northern Mexico and load the trailers piggyback onto rail cars. At least until more infrastructure might could be built within this country. Maybe. 

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17 minutes ago, RickS said:

No mention of just HOW this would be implemented in Mexico... a country that doesn't have much railway infrastructure at all.  Maybe still truck goods in Mexico up to "point/s" in northern Mexico and load the trailers piggyback onto rail cars. At least until more infrastructure might could be built within this country. Maybe. 

It doesn't have much PASSENGER railway infrastructure. For freight, it's fine...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Mexico

And this is ongoing (sorry you need to subscribe to read the entire article below but you'll get a good idea). Between trying to sell the country's Presidential aircraft and the initiatives shown below, I'm starting to think that AMLO has a flying phobia.

https://www.bnamericas.com/en/features/spotlight-mexicos-2020-24-railway-agenda

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On 3/22/2021 at 11:00 AM, RickS said:

No mention of just HOW this would be implemented in Mexico... a country that doesn't have much railway infrastructure at all.  Maybe still truck goods in Mexico up to "point/s" in northern Mexico and load the trailers piggyback onto rail cars. At least until more infrastructure might could be built within this country. Maybe. 

There is rail infrastructure in Mexico,  maybe if you were actually living here and traveled a little you might see the freight trains. As an example on the drive to Melaque you pass close by two areas of track, and if your timing is right you will see a freight train,  I’m guessing it’s going to or from the port at Manzanillo.

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2 hours ago, TelsZ4 said:

There is rail infrastructure in Mexico,  maybe if you were actually living here and traveled a little you might see the freight trains. 

You are correct that I don't live in Mexico BUT  I probably travel in the country 2-3,000 miles per year.  I DO see tracks in my travels.... more toward the northern part of the country... but don't often see trains on them like I do NOB. Trains waiting on other trains there. Definitely around here where vehicle plants are.... Aguascaliente for example... but just not 'all over the place' as there is NOB.

Haven't traveled 'around' Mexico City much so don't know about there. 

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Rick you couldn´t be more wrong.

On a recent stay in Cuyutlán, over a 24 hour period, I counted 12 freight trains coming out of Manzanillo going north, loaded with containers on flat beds, with 50 to 100 cars on each train.  I know because our accommodation was about a block from the main line. 😃🙁  LOL

Why aren´t trains sitting along the sidings waiting for other trains to pass???  Easy, Mexico has world class train dispatchers compared to the Divided States of America. I know because I worked for the C & S RR., a hundred years ago, in Golden, Colo. at the Coors Brewery. Well, maybe not a hundred, but it seems that long ago.  The BN couldn´t even piggyback Monfort beef out of Greeley and lost the meat hauling business forever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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In the 1990's my father (rip) used to talk about meeting this woman lawyer. So this might only be BS or ? She claimed to own at least three private railcars. Her and her friends would coordinate visits. I always wanted it to be true. Towable motorhomes, even going to the side rails of Whistler, BC, hooked up to the steam heating generators. Oh well - maybe on another planet.

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This project has been "in the planning stage" for years. It's intention is to make container freight that lands in the HUGE ports of Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas (Michoacán) that's headed directly to U.S. /Canada  to get there faster, easier, and without clogging the highways with semi-trailers, as well as to use fuel more economically.  There was a lot of noise about it some time ago, and then it seemed to disappear. Maybe now it's becoming more and more feasible?

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Further to an earlier post. Yes, private owned railcars are a big thing in the USA, and this trend will only increase with wealthy seniors and the pandemic. Amtrak charges for a variety of optional services. Great safe way to see Canada, the US, Mexico and Central America. They are not cheap to maintain, although they have no engines, but compared to a barely used Ocean yacht, I would guess the savings could be substantial.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimdobson/2020/05/29/private-rail-cars-will-soon-become-the-ultimate-social-distancing-escape/?sh=4ab4a0f41f4b

Another oddbal  travel method as was told to me by a Canadian couple. I have no reason to doubt it, but have not fact checked. He said he was looking to purchase a French Canal Boat, which was in liveaboard condition, for roughly $69,000. Then he could rent boat moorage space within a few blocks of the Eiffel tower for the equiv of $30 US per night.

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  • 2 weeks later...

For anyone interested in Mexican history , along with the history of Mexican passenger trains (for many decades the only way to travel),  I highly recommend this amazing book ....if you can find it “Yesterday’s Train - A Rail Odyssey Through Mexican History “ , Terry Pindell , 1997.  
 

A review https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/687641.Yesterday_s_Train

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