Know this: We don’t speak from corporate boardrooms. We speak from the front lines of rail safety, which is why we can confidently say that the proposed merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern is a danger to workers and the public.
Union Pacific has answered every concern about this merger the same way: with empty promises about jobs, better service and a stronger network. Here is the problem: Union Pacific’s own record proves that its promises ring hollow, and the Surface Transportation Board should not accept a single commitment from this company at face value.
Start with safety, where the stakes are highest. In 2024, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) began a safety culture assessment of Union Pacific, part of a review of every major railroad after the East Palestine disaster. Two weeks in, the FRA shut the assessment down.
The FRA found that Union Pacific employees across 23 states, in every craft, had been coached to give scripted answers to federal safety inspectors and ordered to report any contact with the FRA to their supervisors. When the government came to ask railroaders honest questions about safety, Union Pacific’s response was to script the answers. It’s no surprise why: This is a company whose derailment rate was the highest of any Class I railroad, roughly 30% higher than the next closest carrier.
The pattern of broken commitments is just as clear. In 1996, Union Pacific promised regulators that its merger with Southern Pacific would preserve competition and improve service. Instead, the network melted down for two years, shippers and communities paid the price, and competitors are still asking regulators to enforce commitments that were ignored decades ago.