SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

The Surface Transportation Board (Board) today issued two separate decisions approving, with conditions, CSX Transportation Inc.’s (CSXT) request for Board authority to acquire and operate the rail line of Meridian & Bigbee Railroad, L.L.C. (MNBR) that runs approximately 93.7 miles between Burkeville and Myrtlewood, Alabama, and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited’s (CPKC) request to acquire from MNBR and to operate approximately 50.4 miles of rail line between Meridian, Mississippi, and Myrtlewood, Alabama.

On October 6, 2023, CSXT and CPKC filed separate applications seeking Board approval for their transactions.  The applicants sought to acquire these segments to, among other benefits, create a direct interchange between them in Myrtlewood, Alabama, and eliminate the need for MNBR to serve as an intermediary carrier.

On November 6, 2023, the Board accepted both CSXT’s and CPKC’s applications and preliminarily determined the transactions to be minor and subject to an Environmental Assessment (EA).  The final EA was completed on May 3, 2024.

The decisions for both the CSXT and CPKC Transactions, CSX Transportation, Inc.–Acquisition and Operation–Rail Line of Meridian & Bigbee Railroad, L.L.C., Docket No. FD 36727 & Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited and the Kansas City Southern Railway Company, D/B/A CPKC – Acquisition and Operation–Certain Rail Line of Meridian & Bigbee Railroad, L.L.C., in Lauderdale County, Miss. and Choctaw and Marengo Counties, Ala., Docket No. FD 36732, may be viewed and downloaded here (CSXT decision) and here (CPKC decision).

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