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 CSX Corp. jumped as much as 8 percent after the close of trading in New York, following a report that Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. approached the U.S. railroad about a takeover in January, and was rebuffed. Shares rose to $25.60 in the latest trade at 6:22 p.m. in New York after climbing as high as $26.60, up from the closing price of $24.64. CSX has declined 5 percent this year through Tuesday’s close compared with a 3.2 percent drop for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. Gary Sease, a spokesman for CSX, declined to comment in March report in the Wall Street Journal. Marty Cej, a spokesman for Canadian Pacific, declined to comment beyond confirming that Chief Executive Officer Hunter Harrison said there would be benefits from a tie-up with CSX or the other major carrier in the eastern U.S., Norfolk Southern Corp. Canadian Pacific made three offers last year to buy Norfolk Southern and all were rejected as "grossly inadequate" and carrying regulatory risk. Harrison has said a merger with an eastern U.S. railroad would create a transcontinental service that would be more efficient and reduce costs. In 2014, Harrison held talks with CSX CEO Mike Ward, who batted down the idea of a merger.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. is asking U.S. regulators to rule on the proposed voting trust structure it wants to use to acquire Norfolk Southern Corp. Canada’s second-largest railroad will seek a declaratory order from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board confirming the viability of the mechanism, according to a statement Tuesday. While urging Norfolk Southern to "assist constructively" in this effort, Calgary-based Canadian Pacific said it would proceed regardless of the U.S. carrier’s cooperation.

Bringing in the STB is the latest attempt by Canadian Pacific Chief Executive Officer Hunter Harrison to make headway in his efforts to build a transcontinental railroad. "While we remain fully confident in our comprehensive regulatory plan, shareholders of both CP and NS have recommended that we seek this declaratory order," Harrison said in Tuesday’s statement. "We still think this action is unnecessary, however, we believe listening to the shareholders -– the owners of our respective companies –- is important."

Norfolk Southern has rejected several approaches from Canadian Pacific, including one in December that valued the U.S. carrier at $27 billion, saying the merger and the proposed voting trust wouldn’t be approved by regulators.

Canadian Pacific said in March that it planned to submit a resolution to Norfolk Southern investors requesting that the U.S. company’s board "engage in good faith discussions." The U.S. railroad said such talks weren’t in shareholders’ best interests unless Canadian Pacific offered "compelling value" and addressed potential regulatory concerns. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. is ready to end efforts to buy Norfolk Southern Corp. if shareholders of the U.S. railroad reject a resolution calling for merger talks, the head of the Calgary-based company said.

Asked by an analyst at a BB&T Corp. conference if a defeat of the resolution would mark the end of efforts to acquire Norfolk Southern, Canadian Pacific Chief Executive Officer Hunter Harrison said, "Yes, I think so." "We’re making preparations that if we’re not successful in entering a dialogue, that we’re going to go back and focus on running" the railroad, Harrison said, according to a recording of the event. "And making it even more successful and having a good year and rewarding shareholders."

Canada’s second-largest railroad plans to submit a resolution to Norfolk Southern investors requesting that the U.S. company’s board "engage in good faith discussions," Canadian Pacific said in a statement Tuesday. Norfolk Southern has rejected several approaches, including one in December that valued the U.S. carrier at $27 billion.

Canadian Pacific won’t present an alternative slate of directors at Norfolk Southern’s 2016 annual meeting.

 Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. will ask Norfolk Southern Corp. shareholders to pressure the U.S. railroad into starting merger talks, dropping plans for a proxy fight. Canada’s second-largest railroad said it plans to submit a resolution to Norfolk Southern investors requesting that the board "engage in good faith discussions." Norfolk Southern has rejected several approaches, including one in December that valued the U.S. company at $27 billion. The Calgary-based carrier won’t present an alternative slate of directors at Norfolk Southern’s 2016 annual meeting. (Bloomberg Business) James Squires, president, CEO and chairman of Norfolk Southern Corp., saw the value of his pay package climb 34.6 percent last year. His compensation rose to $7.98 million from $5.93 million a year earlier, according to a preliminary proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in March.

 President since 2013, Squires became CEO on June 1, 2015, and chairman four months later. Since fall, he has been at the center of a challenge for control of the railroad where he’s worked since 1

 Harrison’s Salary Under Question

E. Hunter Harrison, chief executive officer of Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd., was paid $19.9-million in 2015, a year in which the company’s shares fell by 20 per cent amid a sell-off in railway shares.  The compensation package included a salary of $2.8-million and stock and options worth $9.8-million. His bonus of $6-million was down by $1.2-million from 2014. Mr. Harrison’s 2015 compensation included a number other items, such as personal use of the company aircraft worth $1-million. Mr. Harrison’s salary is paid in U.S. dollars. His total compensation rose by 6 per cent, but would have decreased by 8 per cent had the Canadian dollar not plunged in value, CP said in its proxy statement released on Monday evening.

Mr. Harrison became CEO of the railway in 2012 after a boardroom battle led by activist investor William Ackman. Under his leadership, CP has posted record sales and profits. The share price has risen 126 per cent since his arrival, outperforming that of other railways and the broader stock market. "Although Mr. Harrison’s total compensation is much higher than his peers, the return to shareholders during his tenure is equally impressive," CP said. "Mr. Harrison’s total compensation value from June, 2012, to December, 2015, is 0.67 per cent of the total additional value created for shareholders over the same period ($14,236,601,584)."

Mr. Harrison is under contract until 2017, and then operating chief Keith Creel is expected to take over.  Mr. Creel made a total of $7.5-million in 2015, including a bonus of $1.6-million.  CP has been pursuing a takeover of Virginia-based Norfolk Southern Corp., a merger that would create North America’s biggest railway by route miles.

After the rejection of three offers, valued at about $28-billion (U.S.), CP said it will submit a shareholder resolution at Norfolk Southern’s next annual meeting that will ask the company’s board to talk with CP. Norfolk Southern, U.S. politicians and several groups representing rail customers in the eastern half of the United States have said the merger would be bad for service, and unlikely to receive the regulator’s approval.

CP disagrees, and says that if Mr. Harrison took charge of Norfolk Southern, the railway would enjoy many of the same improvements he has driven at CP, including a higher share price and improved operating efficiencies.

CP Grain Hauling News

Canadian Pacific Railway's (CP) considering the reduction of grain hauled along its western corridor major feeder lines, including the north main line route serving customers between Portage la Prairie and Wetaskiwin, Alberta.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service expects Canada's production of corn, one of CP's main Canadian grains, to drop by 10 percent in 2016 and 2017, contributing to an overall drop in oat, corn, barley, and wheat production.

MacGregor farmer Curtis Sims claims that's not altogether true.  "CP is talking about cutting staff and reducing capacity right at the first sign of any trouble. In fact, it was only a couple of years ago they were way behind. As farmers, we're nervous about the same thing happening about reducing their capacity. There's going to be more corn grown in Manitoba than previous years. And as far as grain production in the general west, it's not really about price as it is about volume."  Sims notes they're expecting no decrease in volume.  "I expect the volume will be just as good depending on the weather. We're not in charge of that. But the volume will still be there. I think as farmers I could say we're pretty sensitive to CP trying to cut back just to save costs. They don't care that much about us as far as our experience. To them it's all about cutting costs, not so much about customer service, it seems as of late."

 He explains Canadian National Railway (CN) hasn't been such a problem.

"Just anecdotally and generally, it seems they (CN) have been more reliable, a little more customer-oriented. Some of the comments by the chairman of CP over the last two or three years really have been pretty obnoxious almost to the farming community, really obviously all about shareholders and not much about customers and not much about service, really, it seems. That's what their attitude seems to be at the head office anyway."

(Michael Blume).

 D&H Strike Ends Quickly

The union representing around 122 Canadian Pacific Railway workers in the region declared victory March 7th, 2016, after an unannounced strike that lasted eight hours. The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way union launched the strike at 6 a.m., surprising CP Rail with the work stoppage. Union members picketed near rail yards in Fort Edward, Whitehall and Saratoga Springs, which lie along CP Rail’s Delaware & Hudson line.

CP Rail spokesman Andy Cummings refused to disclose what impact, if any, the strike had on CP Rail customers, though he said passenger trains through the area were not affected. The strike ended at about 2 p.m. March 7th.

"Amtrak was not impacted, but as far as impacts to our customers, we would just communicate that directly with our customers," Cummings said. The union claims CP has not paid employees fully for time they worked, has not accurately paid employees at their contractual hourly rates, paid employees incorrectly or not at all for holidays and vacations and deprived union workers of health insurance and supplemental sickness benefits while on medical leave or furlough.

The strike ended after a meeting was scheduled between union officials and company representatives, according to Clark Ballew, a spokesman for the union. "After our strike action this morning, Canadian Pacific has assured (union) members that those employees shorted on rates-of-pay, holidays and vacations - or otherwise shortchanged in any way through errors in its payroll department - will be fully compensated and made whole," the union said in a prepared statement.

The union and railroad company have scheduled a meeting for March 14 in Chicago to hash out the issues highlighted during the strike. "I am proud of our brothers and sisters on the (Delaware & Hudson)," said Dale Bogart, the union’s Northeastern System Federation general chairman, in a prepared statement. "We all stepped out with conviction and courage today. We stuck together and we stood up for what’s right." CP Rail has been involved in a controversial effort to buy out rival Norfolk Southern since the fall. The Calgary-based rail firm has been repeatedly rebuffed by Norfolk Southern, which claims the buyout offer doesn’t accurately reflect its value.

 And any such deal would face significant regulatory hurdles, as no major railroad mergers have been approved since the federal Surface Transportation Board adopted rules for such mergers in 2001, according to an Associated Press report.

CP also reportedly approached rival CSX Railroad earlier this year about a possible merger, according to the Associated Press. Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way officials suggested CP Rail’s merger goals might be behind its alleged payroll failings. 

"CP is desperately attempting to merge with Norfolk Southern Railroad," stated the union in its prepared statement. "In an effort to make his company and its proposed merger more palatable to Wall Street, CP CEO Hunter Harrison has deliberately cut payroll staffing with blatant disregard to his employees. "This may win him praise from hedge fund managers and stock speculators, but it leaves our members, their spouses and children out in the cold."   (Scott Donnelly Business Connection Poststar).

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