BNSF to STB: Extend CP-KCS comment period to assess impact on Mexico

BNSF Railway Co. has asked the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to extend its the proposed timeline for making comments on or objections to Canadian Pacific's application to acquire Kansas City Southern.

In a Nov. 12 filing with the board, BNSF says that the proposed 90-day comment period (and Jan. 27, 2022 deadline) is not enough time to address one of the central issues in the proposed acquisition, which is how competition, rate-setting and regulation will affect U.S. shippers involved in transborder movements into and out of Mexico.

"This issue has important implications for U.S. grain shippers in competition with counterparts in Canada, for rail shippers on other U.S. rail networks that compete for access to Mexican origin and destination markets and for communities on rail lines that will be affected by the supposed growth in transborder traffic," BNSF officials state in their filing.

The CP-KCS application provides scarce information on the Mexican portion of the proposed transborder flow of freight, according to BNSF.

"As a result, the Board and interested parties will need to develop this information (or applicants will need to supplement or refile their application to include this information) in order to assess the benefits that applicants claim will result from these new cross-border movements, along with any potential harms to U.S. shippers of transborder freight that may result from competitive conditions in Mexico," BNSF's filing states.

BNSF asks the STB to extend the comment deadline for another 60 days so that it and "other interested parties" can analyze the impact of new single-line service to Mexico.

To view BNSF's filing, click here.