Colorado farmers file antitrust lawsuit against Union Pacific

NEW YORK — Thirteen farmers from Kansas and Colorado along with Weskan Grain and Colorado Pacific Railroad filed an antitrust lawsuit Tuesday in federal court alleging anti-competitive conduct by Union Pacific Railroad and Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas and alleges the railroads conspired to limit competition and maintain control over westbound grain shipments from parts of western Kansas and eastern Colorado.

The plaintiffs include farmers operating in Lane, Scott, Wichita and Greeley counties in Kansas and Kiowa County in Colorado. Weskan Grain and Colorado Pacific Railroad are subsidiaries of Soloviev Group.

According to the complaint, the defendants entered into a secret agreement that imposed interchange fees on railcars moving between lines. The plaintiffs allege the fees made it cost-prohibitive to ship grain west using the rehabilitated Towner Line owned by Colorado Pacific Railroad.

The lawsuit states that the interchange fee exceeds $500 per railcar and has effectively prevented westbound shipments on the Towner Line since the fee was implemented in 2019.

Colorado Pacific Railroad purchased the Towner Line in 2018 and reopened it for freight service in 2019 after rehabilitation. The line had been largely unusable for westbound grain shipments between 1996 and 2018 due to its condition, according to the complaint.

The plaintiffs allege the agreement violated federal antitrust law by fixing or raising transportation prices, allocating markets and eliminating competition. The lawsuit cites alleged violations of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act as well as Kansas and Colorado competition laws.

The complaint argues that grain producers in the region rely on rail access to reach West Coast markets and that trucking or distant rail alternatives are too costly.

The plaintiffs allege the increased shipping costs have reduced prices farmers receive for their grain, raised transportation costs for Weskan Grain and limited revenue from the Towner Line.

Union Pacific is also seeking to merge with Norfolk Southern, a move cited in the lawsuit as increasing concerns about competition in the freight rail industry.

The farmer plaintiffs include operations based in Scott City, Marienthal, Leoti and Dighton in Kansas as well as Towner and Eads in Colorado.

The case is listed as No. 2:26-cv-02053 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.