Federal regulators have declined to open a new investigation into Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s handling of intermodal traffic on the Meridian Speedway, handing the railroad a significant win in a closely watched service dispute.
In a unanimous six-page ruling, the Surface Transportation Board said Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific had not shown that intervention was necessary at this time. The board concluded that any service issues on the corridor had already been resolved and also determined that merger-related gateway conditions tied to the 2023 CP-KCS combination did not apply to this intermodal traffic.
The Meridian Speedway, a 320-mile corridor linking Shreveport, Louisiana, and Meridian, Mississippi, is a key shortcut for freight moving between the West Coast and the Southeast. It is jointly owned by CPKC and Norfolk Southern, though CPKC operates the line.
The case emerged after Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific wrote to the STB in late September, alleging deteriorating service on the corridor. Norfolk Southern said some intermodal customers had diverted cargo to trucks, while Union Pacific asked regulators to determine whether CPKC was honoring service commitments made during the CP-KCS merger review.
CPKC rejected those claims in a November filing, saying the complaints were inaccurate and fell outside the board’s oversight.
The service dispute intensified after CPKC reinstated an 8,500-foot train length restriction in August 2025. That move affected a specific interline intermodal train jointly handled by Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern between Los Angeles and Atlanta. The eastbound train typically runs about 11,000 feet, longer than all but three of the Speedway’s sidings.
CPKC said the restriction was necessary from an operational standpoint and argued that its own customers should not suffer because UP and NS were unwilling to operate within corridor limits. The company temporarily lifted the restriction in the fall while it prepared for a second section of the train to begin operating in mid-November.
Union Pacific later complained that the reimposed limit increased dwell time at Hollywood Yard in Shreveport, where the longer train must be split before being handed to CPKC. But the STB said it was not clear that increased dwell outside the Speedway itself was evidence of worsening service on the line.
For CPKC, the ruling reinforces its position that the corridor is being managed appropriately. For Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific, it is a setback in a dispute tied to one of the most strategically important intermodal connections in the US network.
