Surface Transportation Board January 16, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Surface Transportation Board (Board) is accepting for consideration the application filed on December 17, 2019, by Soo Line Corporation (Soo Line Corp.) and Central Maine & Quebec Railway US Inc. (CMQR US) (collectively, Applicants). The application seeks Board approval for Soo Line Corp., an indirect wholly owned holding company subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Railway Company (CP), to acquire control of CMQR US. This proposal is referred to as the Transaction. The Board finds that the application is complete. The Board also makes the preliminary determination, based on the evidence presented in the application, that the Transaction is a minor transaction because it ``clearly will not have any anticompetitive effects'' and that, if any such anticompetitive effects were found to exist, they would ``clearly be outweighed by the [T]ransaction's anticipated contribution to the public interest in meeting significant transportation needs.'' 49 CFR 1180.2. The Board emphasizes that this is not a final determination and may be rebutted by subsequent filings and evidence submitted into the record for this proceeding. The Board will carefully consider any claims that the Transaction would have anticompetitive effects.