The 2025 edition of Railway Age’s Next-Gen Freight Rail (NGFR) conference will feature Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) President and CEO and two-time Railroader of the Year Keith Creel in a fireside chat with Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono.
In the less-than than two years since the Final Spike was driven at Knoche Yard in Kansas City, CPKC has been delivering the service and growth benefits of the merger that produced North America’s first and only transnational Class I railroad. For example, Top management predicted at CPKC’s 2023 Investor Day that by 2028 the railroad would generate $250 million of synergy revenue growth from its automotive business. That figure is expected to materialize 2025, three years early. It’s a sizable chunk of the overall nearly $800 million in merger synergies CPKC expected to achieve by fourth-quarter 2024. Creel and Vantuono will talk about new, innovative services made possible only by the merger, and the investments the railroad has been making to unlock capacity and increase network velocity.
The Next-Generation Freight Rail speaker lineup also includes CSX President and CEO Joe Hinrichs, Railway Age’s 2025 Railroader of the Year; Christopher P.L. Barkan, Ph.D.,Executive Director, RailTEC and The National University Rail Center of Excellence, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Jeffrey Watson, Vice President Engineering, Genesee & Wyoming and Railway Track & Structures 2024 Engineer of the Year; and Bill Jacobs, Head of Innovation, CSX. The luncheon will honor Railway Age’s 2025 25 Under 40 “Fast Trackers.”
Railway Age’s Next-Generation Freight Rail conference takes place March 11, 2025, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the Union League Club of Chicago. A unique opportunity to discuss the freight rail industry’s future, the conference brings together top executives and thought leaders to discuss topics ranging from business strategy to the latest technological innovations and increasing safety and reliability. The conference also features a luncheon honoring the 2025 winners of Railway Age‘s Fast Trackers 25 Under 40 awards.
