Union Pacific has filed a complaint with federal regulators against BNSF Railway, which it accuses of illegally jacking up so-called “switching rates” at several U.S. locations, mostly in Nebraska.
According to the complaint filed last week with the Surface Transportation Board, BNSF on May 1 canceled the reciprocal rates it charged to Union Pacific for grain trains that start out on BNSF tracks but are later switched to UP tracks.
UP said in the complaint that BNSF eliminated a longstanding $105 per-car unit-train grain rate at certain locations served via reciprocal switching and instead required the company to pay the standard per-car rate of $295, a 281% increase. The change includes locations in Hastings and Lincoln, as well as locations in Iowa and Texas…