CPKC says will be ‘active participant’ in UP-NS merger review process

Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP) released the following statement regarding the merger application filed by Union Pacific (UNP) and Norfolk Southern (NSC) with the Surface Transportation Board on Dec. 19: “CPKC has only just obtained the lengthy UP-NS merger application formally filed today and will be thoroughly reviewing it over the coming days. We will be examining the application from at least two perspectives: Whether it complies with the Board’s 2001 Major Merger Rules and provides the STB and interested parties an adequate basis for evaluating the public interest consequences of the UP-NS proposal; Whether the UP-NS proposal is consistent with the public interest. The first step in the STB’s merger review process calls for the STB to determine, by Jan. 18, 2026, whether to accept the application for consideration or to reject it as incomplete. If the STB accepts the application, its public interest review will entail consideration of a broad and novel array of public interest concerns. Approval of this merger is not inevitable. The proposed UP-NS merger, unprecedented in scale and scope, would radically and permanently change the U.S. rail network. If approved, the merger would pose extraordinary and far-reaching risks to customers, rail employees and broader supply chains. We are confident the STB will conduct a vigorous process to assess all of the short- and long-term public interest impacts of the proposed behemoth, including on the competition rail customers have today. CPKC will remain an active participant in that process. We encourage all interested shippers, receivers, associations, governments and other stakeholders to closely examine the application and file their own comments with the STB. All stakeholders should express their views about how this proposed merger would affect their business, including new limitations on their rail shipping options, new risks of rate pressures, and new risks to service quality. CPKC anticipates submitting comments to the STB in accordance with the procedural schedule the STB adopts in this proceeding.”