Railway executive dies at age 73
U.S. native led two Canadian railroads
Hunter Harrison, the plainspoken, gruff American who rewrote the Canadian railroading book during his years heading both of this country’s largest railways, has died. He was 73.
CSX Corp., the American railroad Harrison began leading earlier this year, issued a statement on Saturday announcing his death.
The company attributed his death to “unexpectedly severe complications from a recent illness,” the same reason offered when Harrison formally went on medical leave last week.
“The entire CSX family mourns this loss. On behalf of our Board of Directors, management team and employees, we extend our deepest sympathies to Hunter’s family,” CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) said in the statement. “Hunter was a larger-than-life figure who brought his remarkable passion, experience and energy in railroading to CSX.”
Ewing Hunter Harrison was born in Memphis, Tenn., on Nov. 7, 1944, and began his railroad career in 1964 as a 19-year-old rail car oiler for the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway while attending Memphis State University.
His modest start gave no hint that he would eventually serve as the CEO of four major railroads: Chicago-based Illinois Central Railroad, Montrealbased Canadian National Railway, Calgary-based Canadian Pacific Railway and Jacksonville, Fla., railway CSX Corp.
Harrison joined the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1980 when it purchased the St. LouisSan Francisco Railway, and he was eventually promoted to vice-president of transportation and service design.
Harrison left Burlington Northern in 1989 to become chief operating officer at Illinois Central Railroad, rising to president and CEO in 1993. There, he was credited with initiating scheduled service for freight, a revolutionary concept for the industry.
In 1998, Canadian National bought Illinois Central — considered at the time to be the most efficient railway in North America — and Harrison was appointed CN’s chief operating officer.
He became CEO of CN in 2003, succeeding Paul Tellier, and served in that position until his retirement at the end of 2009. He moved to his estate in Connecticut, where he raised and trained horses for show jumping.
In the fall of 2011, Harrison was approached by activist investor Bill Ackman, head of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, and enlisted to help with a proxy battle at CP Rail.
After winning the crucial vote at the annual shareholder meeting in 2012, Ackman appointed Harrison as CEO, replacing Fred Green.
In early 2017, Harrison abruptly resigned from CP, five months earlier than scheduled.