CP Rail extends intermodal service to Mexico

MONTERREY, Mexico (March 2) — Canadian Pacific Railway has formed an alliance with Union Pacific Railroad and Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana S.A. de C.V. to provide shippers with trailer-on-flatcar service between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.

The accord, effective immediately, was announced by CP Rail CEO Robert Ritchie at a transportation industry forum in Monterrey last week. It involves intermodal freight only.

Shipments to and from Western Canada and Minneapolis-St. Paul will be interchanged with UP at Chicago, Ritchie said, while shipments to and from Eastern Canada will be interchanged with UP at East St. Louis, Ill. Services within Mexico will be handled by both UP and TFM.

CP Rail will use UP’s Aztec Eagle, a direct rail intermodal service into Guadalajara, Queretaro, and Mexico City, as well as its Passport service to Laredo, Tex., where UP trucking services handle freight to and from 16 Mexican cities, including Monterrey.

Freight moving via UP’s Aztec Eagle will clear Mexican customs at its final destination, rather than at the U.S.-Mexico border. Freight moving via the Passport service will clear Mexican customs at Laredo. Northbound freight from Mexico will clear U.S. customs at Laredo, and Canada customs at its destination.

The deal positions CP Rail to compete more effectively with rival Canadian National Railway. CN is seeking U.S. government approval to buy Illinois Central Corp., which would create the fifth-largest railroad in North America and allow CN to send intermodal and boxcar freight into Mexico.