BNSF CEO assails new rail merger filing, says transcon will raise rates, prices

The western rival of Union Pacific said that the carrier’s latest regulatory filing doesn’t change the fact that the merger with Norfolk Southern will raise rates for shippers, and prices for consumers.

“We are continuing to review the additional information submitted at the request of the Surface Transportation Board in regard to the proposed UP-NS merger,” said BNSF (NYSE: BRK-B) President and Chief Executive Katie Farmer, in a statement Tuesday. “Despite UP (NYSE: UNP) and NS’s (NYSE: NSC) fourth attempt to submit a complete application, the bottom line remains the same. UP and NS have not changed the core of their proposal that fails to demonstrate how combining two major railroads into a single carrier would preserve – much less enhance – competition as required by the STB’s merger rules.’

The merging railroads on Monday completed the supplemental filing requested by the STB when it conditionally accepted the second merger application in late May. 

“UP and NS highlight several so-called new aspects of their application, but they are more of the same – processes with multiple caveats that are difficult to understand, available to very few customers and only available for very short periods of time,” Farmer said. “They do nothing meaningful to mitigate the massive anticompetitive impact of 50% market share held by one company.”