The head of Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. says a proposed rail merger in the United States would set off a wave of acquisitions that reduces competition, raises consumer costs and generates freight logjams.
On Wednesday, CPKC chief executive Keith Creel told conference goers in New York City that Union Pacific Corp.‘s newly fleshed-out application to a U.S. regulator still fails to address key concerns around competition.
The US$85-billion deal would marry Union Pacific’s vast rail network in the Western U.S. with Norfolk Southern’s rails in the east, creating America’s first transcontinental railway and accounting for nearly 50 per cent of its freight traffic.
Creel claims it is “inevitable” that combining the second- and third-largest railways in North America would trigger more mergers and mark the first step toward duopoly.
He also says any bottlenecks at the proposed rail giant would ripple out to affect most competitors, causing longer freight delays.
Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena has said that a merger would have the opposite effect, as more efficient operations shorten transit times and force rivals to up their game and bring down prices.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 20, 2026.
Companies in this story: (TSX:CP)
