OTHER NEWS - Jan. 9, 1996

Competitors Seek to Derail Merger: Kansas City Southern Railway, a unit of Kansas City Southern Industries, plans to lead the charge against Union Pacific Corp.’s $5.4-billion merger with Southern Pacific Rail Corp. when the Texas Railroad Commission opens hearings into the deal today, Kansas City Southern Railway President Michael Haverty said. Haverty maintains that the deal, along with the recent one that created Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., would leave the West with two dominant railroads. The merger would give Union Pacific control over 90% of interchange traffic between the U.S. and Mexico, said Rob Parham, spokesman for a coalition of shippers opposed to the deal. Texas regulators cannot block the merger, but their recommendation is expected to carry substantial weight with the Transportation Department’s Surface Transportation Board, which must approve the merger.