Class I railroads CSX and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) have requested Surface Transportation Board approval to acquire portions of a southern U.S. short line in a bid to create more efficient rail freight flows between Mexico, Texas and the southeast U.S.

CSX and CPKC are seeking to acquire portions of the Meridian & Bigbee Railroad, currently a subsidiary of short line operator Genesee & Wyoming.

Their plans come as Georgia Ports Authority said separately last week that shifts in world trade patterns will benefit the Port of Savannah (see below).

Leaders from both CPKC (NYSE: CP) and CSX (NASDAQ: CSX) have expressed interest in creating more efficient transport among those regions and establishing “a new direct connection and corridor linking Mexico, Texas and the U.S. Southeast.” CPKC and CSX announced their intentions in June. In August, CSX CFO Sean Pelkey said at an investor conference that “I haven’t seen a new interchange pop up [in my years at CSX] … that is going to be as significant as this one.”

Mexico and the U.S. Southeast are “two of the fastest-growing regions connecting through a third (Texas),” longtime transportation analyst Tony Hatch told FreightWaves. 

Indeed, their competitors — Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) and Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) — have also expressed interest in beefing up offerings among those regions. UP is offering intermodal service that originates on Mexican rail carrier Grupo México from both Monterrey in Nuevo Leon and Silao in Guanajuato to cities in the southeastern U.S. 

Meanwhile, NS has a relationship with CPKC in which shippers can utilize the Meridian Speedway to go between Texas and Mexico and the Southeast. NS also has its own service products, including those that involve partners J.B. Hunt and Hub Group, and it recently expanded its intermodal offerings with Florida East Coast Railway.

CSX is seeking to acquire the portion of Meridian & Bigbee Railroad’s…