Keith Creel
President and Chief Executive Officer
Keith Creel became the first President and CEO of CPKC on April 14, 2023 with the combination of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.
Mr. Creel previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Pacific (CP), a position he assumed in January 2017, becoming the 17th person to lead CP since 1881.
Under Mr. Creel's leadership, CP achieved industry-leading safety performance and delivered more efficient ways to connect customers to domestic and global markets, playing a prominent role in connecting communities across North America.
Mr. Creel was appointed CP President and Chief Operating Officer in February 2013 and joined the CP Board of Directors in May of 2015.
Prior to joining CP, Mr. Creel was Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer at Canadian National Railway (CN). He held various positions at CN including Executive Vice-President Operations, Senior Vice-President Eastern Region, Senior Vice-President Western Region, and Vice-President of the Prairie Division.
Mr. Creel began his railroad career at Burlington Northern Railway in 1992 as an intermodal ramp manager in Birmingham, Alabama. He also spent part of his career at Grand Trunk Western Railroad as a superintendent and general manager and at Illinois Central Railroad as a trainmaster and director of corridor operations, prior to its merger with CN in 1999. He currently serves on the board of the Association of American Railroads.
Mr. Creel holds a Bachelor of Science in marketing from Jacksonville State University and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. Mr. Creel has a military background as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, during which time he served in the Persian Gulf War in Saudi Arabia.
Recognized for his leadership, he was named by Progressive Railroading as Railroad Innovator for 2014 and 2024 and by Railway Age as Railroader of the Year in 2021 and co-Railroader of the Year in 2022. The Globe and Mail newspaper’s Report on Business Magazine named Mr. Creel its 2021 CEO of the Year and 2021 Strategist of the Year.
He is honored to be married to his wife of over 30 years, Ginger, and proud father of Tanner and Caitlin.