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Reduce operating ratio to mid-60s by midyear 2016 Reduce workforce by 23% by 2016 – about 4,500 positions Strategic review of western portion of DM&E and D&H Increase average train length and weight by 30% Move headquarters to Ogden Yard southeast of Calgary in early 2014

Around mid-July, just weeks after Hunter Harrison took over as chief executive of Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd., the venerable railroader met with about 30 of the company’s general managers. The straight-talking Tennessee-native, never one to mince words, made it clear he wasn’t happy.

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Those in attendance said he looked around and told them matter-of-factly he’d need only about half of them — at the most.

It was perhaps the first salvo in a war Mr. Harrison, 68, has launched against bureaucracy and inefficiency at CP. His plan of attack will be laid out at a two-day investor meeting this week in New York City. Improving the railway’s operations will include cutting the company’s workforce by nearly a quarter over the next four years and effectively putting a “For Sale” sign on major parts of its network.

I’ve been doing this for 46 or 47 years, and I’ve been damn successful at it

Those were just some of the measures Mr. Harrison highlighted in an exclusive interview with the Financial Post ahead of the meeting. After five months on the job, he was even more certain he’ll reach his objectives at the country’s second-largest railroad, and he sent a message to those who doubt him.