Independent analyst Anthony B. Hatch was stunned by UP’s lawsuit. “I’m flabbergasted. This has not happened before, at least not in my recollection,” he says. The STB clearly said the merger would be judged under the old review rules, not the tougher 2001 rules that require a railroad combination to enhance competition, Hatch noted. The old rules merely required that a merger not harm railroad competition. “The UP is a product of many mergers itself,” Hatch noted. “How is this merger decision process any different than UP-SP and UP-CNW?”

BINGO. UP has a lot of gall to complain about merged railroads stifling competition. Perhaps the STB should rule that UP must make the Tennessee Pass line operational again and offer it for a reasonable price to that farmer from eastern Colorado who wants to get into the railroad business and has been propping up what's left of the MoPac Pueblo Line. And don't stop there. Allow said farmer to operate trains on trackage rights from Dotsero, CO to Flanigan, NV, restore and re-lay the Modoc Line and let him have trackage rights from Alturas to Black Butte where he could connect to the CORP.

The Class Ones spew a lot of B.S. about participating in and encouraging competition, but as soon as a competitive network is stitched together, the panic button is pushed.