WASHINGTON — Union Pacific misused confidential materials from ongoing negotiations in its most recent Surface Transportation Board filing on the ongoing UP-Metra dispute, Metra claims in a new regulatory filing.
Metra’s Dec. 18 filing is the latest action in the dispute over terms of Metra commuter operations on three Chicago-area routes. It is in response to UP’s request that the board deny Metra’s bid to have the board settle those terms [see “UP asks regulators …,” Dec. 16, 2025]. In addition its claim that UP misused confidential materials, Metra says the UP response included two requests outside of the scope of the initial Metra filing: suggesting an additional proceeding to determine facilities covered by the STB ruling granting Metra trackage rights on UP, and requesting additional mediation.
The UP filing contended that Metra’s request for STB intervention is premature because of progress in continuing negotiations, and was an effort to short-circuit those negotiations and stall UP’s federal-court appeal of the trackage rights ruling.
“UP’s claims are premised on selective excerpts from a confidential letter sent by Metra” during negotiations, Metra argues. As part of the negotiations, the commuter operator says, the letter was covered by a confidentiality agreement that prohibits its use in “pursing issues and claims … before any court, arbitrator, governmental agency, or tribunal.” Metra also says Union Pacific presented an “inaccurate chronology” of the events leading to Metra’s request to the board, and that UP had been informed that Metra planned to ask the board to intervene.
“There is no inconsistency in Metra’s willingness to continue negotiations … while also recognizing that the parties have reached an impasses as to major areas of dispute,” Metra said in the filing, “and that the process for Board resolution … should begin now.”
Metra also said UP’s request for a proceeding to determine the scope of the trackage rights ruling is based on an “incorrect assumption” that Metra is seeking to expand the scope, and that it opposes the mediation request, given previous unsuccessful mediation between August 2024 and January of this year. “A second mediation is unlikely to add anything other than delay,” Metra argues.
Given how poorly UP “plays well with others,” both in this Metra context but also in others, how can it be trusted to play fairly after taking over NS? I realize UP has rights and interests to look after, and that other parties it deals with do not necessarily have clean hands either, but there’s a pattern of UP being overly difficult, at best. It’s already bigger than should ever have been allowed.