Career Edward Burkhardt

1 career

1.1 wisconsin central transportation corporation
1.2 honorary consul
1.3 rail world
1.4 lac-mégantic derailment

career

after gaining b.s. honors in industrial administration yale university , studying rail transportation @ yale s graduate school, burkhardt worked wabash railroad. executive chicago , north western transportation, first vice president of marketing , vice president of operations.

wisconsin central transportation corporation

following passage of staggers rail act, on april 3, 1987, soo line railroad announced sale of lake states transportation division private investors led burkhardt , thomas f. power jr., former chief financial officer @ milwaukee road, creating new wisconsin central transportation corporation. first wc train ran stevens point north fond du lac, wisconsin on october 11, 1987. burkhardt served chairman, president , chief executive officer of company 12 years, during wctc also:

bought algoma central railway
chairman , ceo of english welsh & scottish railway, bought 5 railway operations british railways board, handling 93% of rail freight in united kingdom
founded australian transport network, purchased tasrail , emu bay railway
named railroader of year in 1999 industry trade journal railway age magazine

there fiery 1996 train wreck in weyauwega prominent amongst safety problems emerged during burkhardt s tenure. 1997 wc stock price had peaked , began decline. @ same time, foreign holdings of wclx suffered poor returns 1997–1999. management issues @ wc became apparent burkhardt favored investment long term whereas power favored cutting expenses; reportedly led frequent clashes between 2 executives , culminated in july 7, 1999, special meeting of wclx board of directors in burkhardt asked resign.

after failed proxy battle, in 2001 wctc , former illinois central railroad purchased canadian national railway, , merged united states holdings. overseas railroad holdings put sale, , have been sold off.

honorary consul

in 1997, edward burkhardt, while still serving ceo , president of wisconsin central transportation company, appointed new zealand government honorary consul chicago. previously, had led privatisation of new zealand rail during 1990s , served chairman of tranz rail holdings 6 years, between september 1993 , august 1999.

rail world

in july 1999 rail world incorporated burkhardt, president , chief executive officer. part of rail world operations:

bought montreal, maine , atlantic railway 75% share ownership.
led estonian railways privatization in 2001, , served chairman until company repurchased estonian government in 2007
founded rail polska, has unrestricted operator license on polish rail network.

lac-mégantic derailment

a derailment @ lac-mégantic, quebec, canada of runaway montreal, maine , atlantic railway oil train on july 6, 2013 killed forty-seven of townfolk , incinerated of downtown. burkhardt waited 4 days before visiting lac-mégantic; on july 10, 2013 arrival, heckled residents.

as result of incident safety record of mm&a called question, particularly respect burkhardt s one-crew policy. under burkhardt s ownership , control on previous decade, mm&a recorded accident rate higher rest of rail fleet, according data federal railroad administration. instance, in year prior lac-mégantic accident, mm&a had accident rate more twice national average—36.1 accidents per million miles traveled, compared national average of 14.6. toronto star noted when burkhardt took on in 2003, cut employee wages 40 per cent , locomotive crews cut in half, replacing 2 workers one. following lac-mégantic disaster burkhardt blamed nantes, quebec fire brigade shutting down unattended locomotive extinguish engine fire, announced railway had suspended tom harding, engineer , crew-member of runaway train, improperly setting handbrakes on rail cars before retiring night local motel.

on august 6, 2013, burkhardt stated mm&a has no further plans carry oil rail. next day, mm&a filed bankruptcy protection under chapter 11 , canada s companies creditors arrangement act. canadian transportation agency shut down remaining canadian mm&a operations effective august 20, citing inadequate liability insurance. canadian transportation agency, quasi-judicial administrative court, had approved mm&a’s insurance coverage in 2002, , railway had renewed certificate of fitness, license operate cta, annually since then. section 94(1) of canada transportation act mandates conditions under holder of certificate of fitness shall notify agency in writing without delay if (a) liability insurance coverage cancelled or altered may no longer adequate; or (b) construction or operation has changed liability insurance coverage may no longer adequate, , significant change in mm&a operations had occurred initiation of crude oil shipments on mm&a trains in april 2012, yet burkhardt failed inform cta of change. of 12 september 2013, canadian authorities had not yet completed investigation of lac-megantic derailment incident. according news reports on march 22, 2014, quebec police had completed investigation , turned files on prosecutors expected file charges on criminal negligence against burkhardt.

criminal negligence charges filed against mm&a corporation , against 3 individual workers (the dispatcher, engineer , operations manager).