(Sioux Falls, S.D.)– Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad President Kevin Schieffer says Tuesday’s Surface Transportation Board approval of the DM&E’s sale to the Canadian Pacific Railway Corporation clears the way for the C-P to become involved in day-to-day operations.
Schieffer says he doesn’t expect the merger will result in any layoffs of the 1,000-plus employees of the DM&E and its subsidiary, the Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad Corporation. The IC&E operates a branch line in northwest Iowa running through Emmetsburg, Spencer, Hartley and Sheldon.
There’s a 30-day appeal period, but Schieffer says he doesn’t think that will change anything.
Last year, the parties finalized the sale, worth nearly one and a half billion dollars. It was subject to the STB decision, which was announced Tuesday.
The C-P isn’t saying yet whether it will continue the DM&E’s plans to build a new line into Wyoming coal fields and ship coal east.
(Story from the Associated Press.).
