Regulators to announce decision in $31B freight rail merger

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The first major railroad merger since the 1990s could be approved Wednesday when federal regulators announce their decision on Canadian Pacific's $31 billion acquisition of Kansas City Southern railroad.

The U.S. Surface Transportation Board has been reviewing the deal since it was agreed to back in 2021. The STB plans to post its decision online Wednesday morning.

This deal was nearly derailed in 2021 when Canadian National offered $33.6 billion and Kansas City Southern agreed to that offer. But that competing deal fell apart after the Surface Transportation Board rejected part of Canadian National's acquisition plan.

Regulators said in a report earlier this year that the only major impact of the deal would be more noise in places where train traffic is expected to increase significantly. The Surface Transportation Board essentially rejected concerns that the deal would create problems in towns along the tracks by blocking crossings for extended periods of time or clogging the already busy rail network around Chicago and create problems for commuter trains.

The biggest traffic increases are expected between Chicago and Laredo, Texas, with some of the rail lines across Iowa predicted to see more than 14 additional trains a day and the tracks between Kansas City, Missouri, and Beaumont, Texas, likely to see about 12 more trains a day.

Officials in small towns along the railroad like Camanche, Iowa, on the upper Mississippi River told regulators that first responders could be delayed in getting to a fire or urgent health problem because long trains can block every crossing in town at once.

“I believe this merger would compromise the critical effectiveness of our paramedics, EMTs and firefighters, and the health and livelihood of those who need timely...