Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern file historic rail merger software program

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern on Friday submitted a whole software program to the Flooring Transportation Board requesting approval to combine the two foremost freight railroads into what would turn into America’s first transcontinental railroad.

The submitting represents a landmark second in American transportation historic previous, proposing the creation of a unified rail neighborhood spanning the nation from coast to coast. The just about 7,000-page software program provides intensive particulars on how this end-to-end combination would enhance rivals all via the freight {{industry}} whereas delivering substantial public benefits to prospects, workers, and communities all through the nation.

The merger settlement between the two firms was initially executed on July 29, 2025, setting the stage for this regulatory submitting. The equipment highlighted 2,000 letters of assist from stakeholders. Shareholders at every Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) and Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) earlier voted 99% in favor of the proposed transaction.

The merger has moreover drawn opposition from commerce groups along with chemical and vitality shippers, unions representing locomotive engineers and observe workers, and rival supplier BNSF.

The two firms anticipate the merger to be completed by early 2027, pending regulatory evaluation and approval all through the statutory timeline established by the STB.

The proposed combination would unite Union Pacific’s expansive western attain with Norfolk Southern’s entry to japanese manufacturing and inhabitants amenities. Union Pacific in the intervening time operates all through 23 western states. Norfolk Southern operates a 22-state neighborhood inside the japanese United States, with connections to every foremost container port on the Atlantic coast along with foremost ports all through the Gulf Coast and Good Lakes.

The combined entity would create a neighborhood encompassing 50,000 route miles in 43 states and higher than 100 ports. Union Pacific Chief Govt Jim Vena emphasised the importance of the merger in adapting to altering freight provide requires, stating that as time and experience proceed to rework how freight is delivered, the {{industry}} ought to keep tempo and switch forward, reaching underserved markets with new rail choices and strengthening the US present chain. Vena expressed confidence that prospects deserve stronger, additional associated freight rail, and that the merger would ship on that promise.

Norfolk Southern President and CEO Mark George highlighted the complementary nature of the two networks, explaining that the combination would ship collectively Union Pacific’s expansive western attain and Norfolk Southern’s entry to japanese manufacturing and inhabitants amenities in an end-to-end combination. The result is usually a unified rail system capable of bridging the opening between east and west, allowing freight to bypass congested interchanges and take the quickest and only, price-competitive route.

The Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern combination represents a conventional end-to-end merger, with each railroad in the intervening time serving distinct geographic areas with complementary networks, prospects, and markets. In distinction to mergers which will in the reduction of rivals by combining overlapping suppliers, this transaction would be part of two strategies which have historically operated independently of their respective territories. The equipment notes solely three purchaser areas out of higher than 20,000 served may be impacted by every railroads serving them fully, and aggressive transport choices may be retained for these areas.

One of many essential essential operational enhancements promised by the merger entails the transformation of interline service into single-line service. Presently, shipments transferring all through the nation needs to be handed off between railroads, creating delays and inefficiencies. The combined agency would convert 10,000 current lanes from interline service requiring time-consuming handoffs into faster, additional setting pleasant single-line service. This enchancment would do away with an estimated 2,400 rail automotive and container handlings and 60,000 car-miles on daily basis, dramatically bettering the speed and reliability of transcontinental freight movement.

The companies stage to evaluation demonstrating that when single-line rail service is obtainable, the share of freight touring by rail versus freeway is roughly two to some events bigger than with interline service. This discovering signifies that making a seamless transcontinental neighborhood would principally change the aggressive dynamics between rail and trucking, considerably for long-haul freight actions.

The merger software program outlines fairly a couple of benefits that prospects would perceive from the combination. Faster, additional setting pleasant service represents the cornerstone of purchaser benefits, with the blending creating an additional 84,000 county-to-county lanes the place shippers in the intervening time transferring freight by avenue may, for the first time, benefit from single-line rail service. This enlargement of service selections would provide shippers with choices they’ve in no way beforehand had entry to.

The combined railroad has launched plans to introduce quite a few new routes as part of its optimized working plan. Two new every day intermodal put together pairs would be part of the east and west with additional direct service, reducing estimated transit events from Southern California to the Ohio Valley and Northeast by as a lot as 20 hours. Service from Southern California to the Southeast would see transit time reductions of higher than two days. Furthermore, six new manifest trains may be launched to bridge the east-west divide additional successfully, reducing over 600 every day automotive handlings. To meet anticipated intermodal growth, the combined agency plans to introduce a whole of six premium intermodal lanes working seven days per week.

Prospects who private rail automobiles would revenue from improved productive use of their belongings. With faster, additional predictable service, prospects can flip automobiles additional quickly, lower idle time, and reduce instruments costs. The unified digital experience promised by the merger would allow shippers to mix scheduling, monitoring, and cargo visibility by a single platform. Prospects would revenue from having one enterprise workers, one contract, one invoice, and one accountable companion for his or her complete rail journey.

The equipment introduces Devoted Gateway Pricing, a voluntary enhancement designed to extra rivals by streamlining pricing of interline strikes for 1000’s of purchaser areas that in every other case may circuitously revenue from the merger. The combined agency would keep all current gateways open for eligible website guests on commercially inexpensive phrases. As an added security for patrons, Union Pacific would voluntarily create an alternate dispute determination program to successfully deal with certain claims regarding merger-related service factors.

Fast line railroads would moreover revenue from the merger. As Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern create new single-line routes, open aggressive markets, and streamline service, transient traces are positioned to grab new volumes flowing straight onto their rails, doubtlessly spurring growth all via the regional rail neighborhood.

The merger ensures substantial monetary benefits for the nation, considerably for areas which have historically been underserved by rail transportation. The equipment identifies what it phrases the upper midwest watershed space, an area the place trucking was often the one viable selection because of crossing the divide between japanese and western railroads made rail service too pricey and complicated on account of handoffs between carriers. This beforehand underserved rail market would obtain entry to single-line manifest service for the first time.

The railroads quoted {{industry}} advertising and marketing guide Oliver Wyman estimates that 105,000 carloads of merchandise website guests would convert from avenue to rail when single-line service turns into obtainable to the watershed markets. By providing dwelling shippers with a inexpensive numerous to truck transportation, the merger would make American firms additional aggressive, strengthening the entire nationwide monetary system.

The seamless transcontinental railroad would compete additional aggressively with long-haul trucking, with the companies estimating that roughly 2 million truckloads of freight yearly would shift from avenue to rail. This modal shift would in the reduction of congestion on America’s highways, create safer roads for motorists, and cut back placed on on taxpayer-funded infrastructure. The benefits would lengthen previous the freight {{industry}} to all avenue prospects and the federal authorities firms liable for sustaining freeway strategies.

The combined neighborhood would provide setting pleasant, versatile, and reliable single-line entry to higher than 100 ports connecting to world markets and 10 worldwide gateways to markets in Canada and Mexico. This enhanced connectivity would strengthen the place of American firms in worldwide commerce and improve the resilience of the nationwide present chain.

Rail transportation already represents in all probability essentially the most sustainable technique to switch freight over flooring. In response to the Affiliation of American Railroads, rail transport produces roughly 75 % a lot much less carbon emissions than vans. The merger would extra enhance these environmental benefits by quite a few mechanisms. Eradicating an estimated 2 million vans from the road yearly would straight in the reduction of transportation-related emissions. The combined agency would even be positioned to run trains additional successfully, put cash into cleaner and further setting pleasant utilized sciences, and provide prospects with increased devices to realize their very personal sustainability targets.

The equipment addresses workforce considerations with commitments designed to protect railroad workers. The companies pledge that every employee with a union job on the time of the merger will proceed to have one following the combination. Union Pacific has formalized groundbreaking jobs-for-life agreements with quite a few unions, providing unprecedented job security for represented workers. Any merger-related union job efficiencies may be achieved solely by attrition reasonably than layoffs.

Previous job security, the companies anticipate the combined entity to develop, creating roughly 900 web new union jobs by the third yr following the merger to take care of anticipated amount growth.

Safety stays the perfect priority for every railroads, and the equipment contains a full safety integration plan developed in collaboration with the Federal Railroad Administration and submitted to the STB. The plan outlines how the model new agency would combine best practices from each railroad to extra enhance safety outcomes.

Every firms have demonstrated essential safety enhancements these days. Evaluating the first three quarters of 2023 to the an identical interval in 2025, Union Pacific improved its non-public harm payment by 41% and now leads the {{industry}} in employee safety. Norfolk Southern’s superior utilized sciences and industry-leading rail safety practices have improved its Federal Railroad Administration accident payment by 45% over the an identical interval. The merger would allow every firms to share their respective safety enhancements and best practices, doubtlessly accelerating safety enhancements all through the combined neighborhood.

The equipment moreover addresses passenger rail considerations. Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern would maintain devoted strategies to assist passenger rail operations. A route-by-route analysis of projected amount growth verified ample functionality to proceed fulfilling all service obligations to Amtrak and commuter rail firms, making sure that the freight merger would not adversely impression passenger transportation.

The companies anticipate investing an estimated $2.1 billion of incremental capital to mix the two strategies and ship benefits to prospects. The combined agency moreover expects $133 million in annual capital synergies by leveraging the combined neighborhood and fleet additional successfully.

The equipment is now matter to a 30-day evaluation by the STB for completeness. The formal evaluation may take a yr or longer. Following approval, the combined agency would proceed to perform beneath ongoing STB oversight.

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