Ex-Canadian National Railway chief takes helm as CEO of Canadian Pacific

CANADIAN Pacific Railway (CP) has appointed Hunter Harrison, the former CEO of its chief rival, the Canadian National Railway, as the new president and CEO of the company.

"I am proud to be working with one of North America's iconic companies and I look forward to quickly getting to know the priorities of CP customers, shareholders, employees and communities served by the railway," said Mr Harrison.

This comes after months of board-level battling between the old board and major shareholder Bill Ackman, of New York's Pershing Square Capital Management, who successfully removed the old CP chief executive Fred Green, replacing him with railway industry veteran Stephen Tobias as caretaker CEO.

Mr Ackman, 46, is CP's largest shareholder with a 14.2-per-cent stake. He and six other Pershing Square nominees now serve on CP's new board. Pershing Square is touting its recovery plan to chop CP's annualised operating ratio to 65 per cent within four years of replacing Mr Green.

A former Illinois Central Railroad executive, Mr Harrison has also joined the CP board.

Said CP chairman Paul Haggis: "The board welcomes Mr Harrison's experience and leadership to CP. We look forward to benefiting from his strong track record of service reliability, efficient asset utilization, and strategic capital expenditure."

Mr Harrison, 67, has been awarded the North America's Railroader of the Year by Railway Age magazine and CEO of the Year by the Globe and Mail's Report on Business magazine.