Thirteen farmers from Kansas and Colorado, along with Weskan Grain and Colorado Pacific Railroad (CXR), filed an antitrust lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas alleging that Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad (K&O) and Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) conspired to block competition and inflate grain transportation costs across the region.
The complaint, filed by Ajamie LLP and Sharp Law LLP under docket number 2:26-cv-02053, accuses the rail companies of engaging in secret agreements designed to stifle use of a newly rehabilitated rail line and maintain control over westward grain shipments from parts of western Kansas and eastern Colorado.
Union Pacific, the largest railroad in the world by market capitalization, and short-line operator K&O are alleged to have amended a long-standing lease agreement in 2019 to impose what plaintiffs describe as an excessive interchange fee on railcars connecting to CXR’s Towner Line — a route restored to service in 2019 after years of disrepair.
According to the lawsuit, the fee exceeds $500 per railcar, making it economically unfeasible for farmers and shippers to use the Towner Line as an alternative route to West Coast markets.
“In fact, no westbound railcar carrying any commodity has shipped from the Relevant Market and traveled over the Towner Line in the more than six years since the Interchange Fee was adopted,” the complaint states.
Plaintiffs argue the arrangement has resulted in higher transportation costs, reduced farm income, and lost revenue for CXR, while effectively eliminating competition in violation of federal antitrust laws and state competition statutes in Kansas and Colorado.
Stefan Soloviev, chairman of Weskan Grain and Colorado Pacific Railroad, said the lawsuit is aimed at restoring fairness in a system rural communities rely on.
“This is not about attacking railroads,” Soloviev said in a statement. “It is about restoring balance, transparency, and accountability to a system that rural America depends on. Fair access and fair pricing are essential if we want agriculture in this country to thrive for generations to come.”
Tom Ajamie, managing partner of Ajamie LLP, alleged that Union Pacific and K&O worked together to erect financial and competitive barriers that have harmed farmers across the region.
“Through a secret agreement with the Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad to impose exorbitant fees on rail traffic from western Kansas to eastern Colorado, Union Pacific has increased transportation costs and transit times, making it difficult for local grain farmers to earn a fair price for their crops,” Ajamie said.
He added that the lawsuit also seeks to improve freight efficiency, particularly as Union Pacific pursues a proposed merger with Norfolk Southern to form a transcontinental railroad.
The complaint details how Union Pacific owns a key section of track leased to K&O, which connects eastward to K&O’s Great Bend Line and westward to CXR’s Towner Line. While the Towner Line had been unusable for decades due to poor condition, CXR purchased and rehabilitated it beginning in 2018 to provide farmers a more direct route to western markets.
Shortly afterward, plaintiffs allege, the defendants imposed the interchange fee to discourage its use.
Farmers named in the lawsuit include operations across Scott City, Marienthal, Leoti, Dighton, and other communities in Kansas, as well as producers in Towner and Eads, Colorado.
The plaintiffs contend that access to West Coast markets is critical for remaining competitive, as those regions contain major ports and grain mills. With trucking and distant rail options deemed too costly, rail access in the region is essential to agricultural livelihoods.
Soloviev, who has invested extensively in farmland conservation and sustainable agriculture across Kansas and Colorado, emphasized the broader impact of the dispute on rural communities.
The case seeks damages and injunctive relief to remove what plaintiffs describe as unlawful barriers to competition and restore open access to rail transportation in the region.
Neither Union Pacific nor Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad had publicly responded to the lawsuit as of publication time.