Updated: Saturday, May 6

By Justin Franz

Union Pacific is asking a federal appellate court to overturn the U.S. Surface Transportation Board’s approval of the Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern merger. 

While competing railroads have challenged mergers in the past, it has almost always happened during the review process, not after regulators have given their approval. The motion was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on May 3. 

UP officials wrote in a statement to Railfan & Railroad that “the merger of Kansas City Southern and Canadian Pacific is likely to reduce competition and negatively impact shippers and stakeholders. In approving the merger, the Surface Transportation Board acknowledged these concerns, but did not adopt solutions to remedy the harms.”

In its petition, attorneys for UP wrote that the railroad “seeks relief on the grounds that the agency action is in excess of the Board’s authority; that it is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and otherwise not in accordance with law; and that it is not supported by substantial evidence.”

UP is perhaps CPKC’s biggest competitor for traffic between the Midwest and Mexico. Last week, UP announced that it was teaming up with Canadian National and Ferromex to offer new intermodal service between Chicago and ports in Mexico. 

CP and KCS officially merged to form CPKC in April.

This story will be updated as additional information becomes available.