Antitrust lawsuit against railroads dismissed

By The AP
Friday, March 1, 2013

OMAHA, Neb. — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that accused Union Pacific and BNSF Railways of price fixing.

Oxbow Mining said in its lawsuit that the two biggest railroads in the western U.S. worked to avoid direct competition with each other to keep rates high. The lawsuit said Union Pacific has refused to ship coal from its Oxbow’s Elk Creek Mine in western Colorado in an effort to avoid competing with BNSF.

The lawsuit also said the railroads’ fuel surcharges aren’t based on actual costs and simply raise shipping rates.

But U.S. District Court Judge Paul Friedman said in an opinion Tuesday that Oxbow failed to present adequate facts to back their allegations of price fixing.

The lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice, meaning Oxbow can refile.