June 6, 2026 - TRA Newswire -

It's the second go round for Union Pacific - Norfolk Southern merger documents to be presented to the Surface Transportation Board for their consideration. The first time was a no, this time was a yes.  

The first application was rejected by the railroad regulatory agency on January 16th when the board said there was not enough information to determine if the $85 billion merger was in the public interest.

Back to the drawing board. On April 30th papers were refiled. 

The good news is the STB, by a unanimous vote on May 28th, accepted the filing on the second go round. 

However, the revised application still has some aspects that are considered "unclear and underdeveloped" so UP and NS has been told to send supplemental documentation no later than July 27th. The agency said that "given the fairly narrow procedural question of completeness, issues raised by commenters do not warrant rejecting the revised application".

In the meantime, the review has been put on hold.

Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena commented “we submitted a comprehensive, data-driven application backed by a detailed plan for seamless integration. We look forward to the opportunity to show the facts and demonstrate the benefits for our customers, employees and America".

These are the areas that the STB needs additional information on the UP/NS merger:

A service assurance plan, how passenger trains will be protected, downstream merger impacts, how will the merger enhance competition, market share projections, access for shippers, issues on gateways and supply of cars, and an analysis of public benefits.

Eric Gehringer, Executive Vice President- Operations at Union Pacific Railroad, spoke at the Southwestern Rail Conference in Hurst, Texas last month. He said that by merging the two companies, you will fundamentally see more benefits from a more reliable, single-line service. "As the combined entity goes faster, we are providing service that is more truck-like, which means for our customers they have now enhanced their business. Before, they could never bring this business to a railroad because it wasn't fast enough," according to Gehringer. 

His comments on the merger can be found with the posted video on the Southwestern Rail Conference website page. 

Gehringer pointed out that an optimized merger plan would mean that fewer cars would need to be handled daily, by some 2,500 car touches a day. "We are creating one seamless network that speeds up cars by touching them less and routing them on the best optimal path in line with the commitments we have made to our customers."

"We will be adding seven new intermodal services, seven days a week. These are necessary for us to grow the 1.6 million carloads for intermodal", according to Gehringer. "Some will be I-trains, some will be Z-trains. They will align to what our customers are telling us. We want to have more service on a more frequent basis."
 

Photo credit: Texas Rail Advocates

Graphic credit: Union Pacific