The National Antimonopoly Commission (CNA) determined, as a preliminary ruling, that there are no conditions of effective competition in the rail freight transport service in the country , with Grupo México Transportes (GMXT) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) de México having the largest share in the sector.
The regulatory authority specified that of the 1,772 markets relevant to the industry, such as food, consumer goods, industrial goods and oil and its derivatives, among others, 1,768 lack competitive conditions .
“There are no conditions of effective competition in various relevant markets of the rail freight transport service in national territory, due to the existence of three barriers to competition and free market access that generate restrictions on the efficient functioning of said markets,” it stated in a document published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) .
Furthermore, he indicated that the Mexican Railway System (SFM) operates under a vertical integration model, in which a single company simultaneously controls the railway infrastructure , as well as its related services.
In turn, it operates under a regional separation scheme, which divides control of infrastructure and the provision of transport services across different areas of the country. “In this context, access rights are fundamental to promoting competitive conditions and operational continuity,” he emphasized.
Under this scenario, the antitrust authority identified three barriers to competition and free market access that create restrictions on the efficient functioning of these markets.
The first is a restrictive application in the granting of right of way , the second is that there is tariff setting by the concessionaires that makes the interline option more expensive or degrades it when competing against an alternative.
The latter, he specified, is that one company dominates routes that are physically isolated on the Mexican Pacific coast . Grupo México controls both the Pacific-North trunk line (through Ferromex) and the Ojinaga-Topolobampo and Nacozari short line.
“Ferromex is ordered to transfer, through assignment, the rights and obligations of the Pacific-North concession to an economic agent that does not belong to its group of interest, for the Nogales-Guaymas section. The transfer must include the railway equipment and necessary auxiliary services,” he stated.
To this end, the railway company will have six months after the CNA resolution to present a divestment plan for said asset and a timetable for the process.
Similarly, the CNA proposed corrective measures, such as modifying Article 36 of the Regulatory Law of the Railway Service (LRSF) to transfer to the Agency of Trains and Integrated Public Transport (ATTRAPI) the power to evaluate and approve all restrictions on rights of way.
GMXT and CPKC of Mexico must submit to ATTRAPI, within the next 90 calendar days, all current right-of-way agreements and interconnection mechanisms for evaluation or modification.
The CNA’s investigation period spanned from January 10, 2024 to October 29, 2025 .
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