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Canadian Pacific completes acquisition of Atlantic Canada short line

A Canadian Pacific train heads to its next stop. (Photo: Flickr/Jerry Huddleston)

Canadian Pacific (NYSE: CP) has completed its acquisition of the Central Maine & Quebec (CMQ) Railway.

The U.S. portions of the CMQ network still need approval from the Surface Transportation Board.

The CMQ will give CP’s customers access to ports at Seaport, Maine, and Saint John, New Brunswick, via two other short lines, the Eastern Maine Railway and the New Brunswick Southern Railway, CP said Dec. 30.

CP announced its plans to acquire the CMQ in November. The railway said then that the acquisition would boost its footprint in the Eastern U.S. and establish a coast-to-coast network in Canada.


CMQ has 481 miles of rail lines in Quebec and Maine. CMQ also owns the track that was involved in a July 2013 fatal accident at Lac Mégantic, Quebec. Transport Canada has also cited the line as having numerous defects, but the short line has told the agency that those defects have been addressed, according to CBC.ca.

CP is expected to announce its earnings results for the fourth quarter of 2019 sometime in January.

Joanna Marsh

Joanna is a Washington, DC-based writer covering the freight railroad industry. She has worked for Argus Media as a contributing reporter for Argus Rail Business and as a market reporter for Argus Coal Daily.