Surface Transportation Board

Two agencies in Mexico have given their approval of the proposed merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.

The STB is allowing the merger application of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern to proceed as is, rejecting Union Pacific’s concerns over the application’s completeness.

The railroad says CP’s and KCS’ traffic diversion analysis is incomplete, and so the board should compel CP and KCS to revise its merger application.

The Surface Transportation Board is advancing two rulemakings on small rate disputes concurrently to determine how best to address such disputes. The railroads prefer one rulemaking while shippers prefer another.

The board has said it plans to seek input on the environmental impacts of the CP-KCS merger; CSX’s planned acquisition of Pan Am Railways; Amtrak’s plan to restore its Gulf Coast service; and reciprocal switching.

CSX defended its service record and its responsiveness to customer concerns to the Surface Transportation Board, which had sent CSX a letter in October saying that the board received complaints over the railroad’s recent performance.

CSX and Norfolk Southern are asking the Surface Transportation Board to deny Amtrak’s request to restore U.S. Gulf Coast service between Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans unless the passenger railroad agrees to pay for capital improvements to facilitate rail moves.

STB has allowed agri-food shipper Sanimax to proceed in its complaint against Union Pacific over service issues.

The proposed schedule will provide room for rebuttals and responses, STB said.

Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern submit a joint application before the Surface Transportation Board asking to consolidate the two railroads while CN adds a rail and technology expert to its board.

The board affirms its previous approval of Canadian Pacific’s voting trust application.

Industry observers grapple with the complexities of implementing reciprocal switching on U.S. rail networks.

2022 could be a busy year for the Surface Transportation Board if it decides to tackle a number of long-standing, hot-button issues.

U.S. agribusiness exporters claim they are poised to lose 22% of sales due to massive increases in container shipping rates.

Kansas City Southern shareholders pushed back a vote on whether to approve CN’s merger agreement to Sept. 24.

The agency is seeking comments from freight railroads on whether it should collect data pertaining to first- and last-mile movements.

Stakeholders and observers such as Amtrak, Canadian Pacific and the Vermont Department of Transportation want the Surface Transportation Board to consider placing conditions that would bolster both competitive access and passenger rail service.

Kansas City Southern shareholders must decide whether to continue to pursue merger plans with CN or go with Canadian Pacific.

The Surface Transportation Board rejected CN’s application to establish a voting trust, which would be used as part of the process to acquire Kansas City Southern.

As fall harvest nears, grain shippers and freight railroads are taking steps to ensure network fluidity for export-bound grain trains in and out of the Pacific Northwest.