Colorado Pacific again accuses Union Pacific of monopolistic practices

Written by RT&S Staff
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Three rail bridges in Moorhead, N.D., will not be complete until mid-2022.

Too much Union Pacific is not always a good thing. Colorado Pacific Railroad is trying to break up what it believes is a monopoly following the announcement that Rio Grande Pacific and Union Pacific came to an agreement to rehabilitate the Tennessee Pass Line in Colorado.

Colorado Pacific Railroad will be filing a protest with the Surface Transportation Board asking the agency not to approve the Union Pacific deal on the grounds that the Class 1 railroad company maintains its “monopoly stranglehold across the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, in defiance of concerns about the Tennessee Pass line stated by the Board in its decision in the 1996 UP-SP merger case.”

Rio Grande Pacific and Union Pacific want to establish passenger and freight line service on the Tennessee Pass Line. Colorado Pacific Railroad also has plans on offering year-round passenger service on the Tennessee Pass.

Colorado Pacific Railroad and Union Pacific have squared off before over the Towner Line in southeastern Colorado. Colorado Pacific Railroad gained control of the line after it alleged UP was engaged in monopolistic practices.

An estimated $278 million would have to be spent on the Tennessee Pass Line to rehabilitate about 160 miles of track, which have been dormant since 1997.

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