In late 2015, Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) made an offer to merge with Norfolk Southern Corporation (NS).  While that offer was officially rejected by the Norfolk Southern board in December, CP is continuing its efforts to takeover Norfolk Southern. The action prompted House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte to write to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) seeking clarification on the board’s actions relative to the potential merger.

In its response, the STB indicated that there are no proceedings currently under way regarding merger regulations and that no specific merger exists yet for STB to act on.  In deciding whether to approve or disapprove a merger, the STB said it would consider if such action would enhance competition between railroads and whether a marriage of the two companies could set off a domino effect of further consolidation.

The STB has also created a web page dedicated to tracking all correspondence related to the potential merger.

The soybean industry would be concerned whether such a merger would be in farmers’ best interest. There are currently only seven major railroads in the U.S. and mergers could further reduce competition in the rail market, leading to higher rates and reduced access to service.  There is also concern that additional mergers would follow, with BNSF indicating publicly that they would move to expand and further consolidate the industry to compete with a potential CP and Norfolk Southern merger.