Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS) have had two chances to make their case to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) for what would be the largest railroad merger in American history. Twice, they have now come up short.
Last week, the STB accepted the Union Pacific (UP)-Norfolk Southern (NS) merger application, but delayed the review process to collect vital information that is still missing from the railroads’ revised application, putting it on hold. A recent letter from six Attorneys General documents how the application “remains incomplete,” with key information and data missing on projected market shares, downstream consolidation, and control of important jointly owned industry assets. UP and NS have now twice submitted an extremely flawed proposal.
However, even worse than these errors are fundamental problems with the merger itself. If they can’t get the paperwork right, how can we believe they’ll pull off the largest railroad merger in history without causing a national supply chain meltdown? And those problems would be devastating for the America people: no real competition created no binding commitments on shared infrastructure, no meaningful pricing protections, and no enforceable guarantees for the workers and shippers who would live with the consequences for decades.