In a decision announced recently, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) made clear that it has “reached no conclusions on the merits” of the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger, while acknowledging significant questions remain around competition, service, and the applicants’ proposed remedies. Significantly, the STB’s newest member, Richard Kloster, raised eyebrows with his comments in the STB’s September 18 decision. He said the railroads have “a long way to go” to prove that the merger is in the public interest.
According to rail industry trade publication Trains.com, Kloster, a Trump administration appointee sworn in on June 5, said the merger application is shallow and lacks detail on how UP will address competition concerns.
Highlights from Kloster’s written comments include the following:
- “There has been a lack of transparency and depth in the application.”
- “Applicants have submitted thousands of pages of documents, yet they do not offer a very robust plan for how they will address competitive concerns or mitigate potential harms.”
- “The Board should not have to sift through vague language to try and figure out where the deficiencies may be in the applicants’ proposal and what potential conditions could mitigate harm.”
Kloster also criticized what he described as an apparent strategy of “letting the line out slowly.”
And his bottom line:
“Applicants still have a long way to go to show that the Transaction is in the public interest.”
The Teamsters Rail Conference, comprised of BLET and BMWED, is a member of the Stop the Rail Merger Coalition. The Coalition represents a broad cross-section of the U.S. economy and is united against a merger that would weaken the railroad workforce, reduce competition, increase costs, and weaken America’s supply chain.
Read Kloster’s full statement and the STB’s September 18 decision here (PDF).