It’s a daunting task to protect a critical infrastructure network that stretches thousands of miles across Canada and the United States but it’s one that the company has faced in its 128 years of business.
In the early days, it was mainly severe weather and mountainous terrain that caused the most challenges.  But, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Canadian Pacific had a new and much more deadly risk to consider — one that could strike without warning, anywhere along its 16,000-mile route. 

Across the continent, it was also a new risk that others were facing and, in a surprisingly swift and united response, North America’s Class 1 railways joined together to address the possibility of terrorism, head-on.
“Right after 9/11, all of the big railroads came together to develop a unique security plan,” says Gerry Fish, superintendent of corporate security for the Canadian Pacific Police Service.  “We knew we needed to work together because non-aligned plans would help protect individual railways but not the larger inter-dependant North American network.”

Much like the often-torpedoed shipping lanes of World War II, a disrupted rail system could impact essential supply chains. Considering that the rail network is responsible for carrying everything from medical supplies to food, any extended loss of service could strike at the core of the North American lifestyle as well as potentially sever supply lines for business and manufacturing.

With so much at stake, the planning behind the effort to protect the railway network took on a scope and co-operative approach that has never been seen before — even ahead of Homeland Security planning and certainly well ahead of other agencies’ efforts, notes Fish.