WASHINGTON — Chicago-area commuter railroad Metra has asked a federal court to review the Surface Transportation Board’s decision to approve the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger as well as a subsequent decision that covers post-merger oversight.
Metra’s suit, filed on Sept. 29 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, was disclosed today in a regulatory filing with the STB. Union Pacific and a group of Chicago-area communities called the Coalition to Stop CPKC also have sought a judicial review of the STB’s approval of the CPKC merger.
All three lawsuits claim that the STB’s approval of the first merger of Class I systems in two decades was unlawful.
“Metra requests this Court to hold the March 15 Decision and the August 31 Decision to be unlawful, to set them aside, to remand the case to the Board to correct its legal deficiencies, and to grant such additional relief as may be necessary and appropriate,” the Metra suit says, using language similar to the other lawsuits.
This is the second time Metra has filed suit against the CP-KCS merger decision. Metra initially filed suit on May 12, but the court rejected it as premature because Metra was also seeking a modification of the merger decision.
The board’s Aug. 31 decision denied Metra’s request for more detailed reporting requirements regarding CPKC freight trains that operate on lines shared with Metra commuter trains.
Metra strongly opposed the merger, contending it would have a negative effect on commuter operations on two lines shared with CPKC, and sought 13 conditions to mitigate those impacts, from gaining control of dispatching to mandating that CPKC make capital improvements. None of the requests was granted.
Note: Updated at 4:26 p.m. Central to correct reference to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
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