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9/15/2025
Union Pacific Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railway next month will launch a new domestic intermodal service that will originate and terminate in Louisville, Kentucky, interchanging between NS and UP in Kansas City, Missouri.
The bi-directional service aims to connect customers with key western and southern markets and NS's intermodal facilities in Louisville, UP and NS officials said in a press release. The service will operate by rail to and from Los Angeles, Lathrop, California; Seattle; Portland, Oregon; Salt Lake City; and Houston.
The service is made possible by investments from both Class Is, which also have proposed a merger of their companies.
"Enhancements to the newly expanded Kansas City Intermodal Terminal and Norfolk Southern investments in Louisville allow us to compete with trucks, removing thousands from the nation’s congested highways," said Kenny Rocker, UP's executive vice president-marketing and sales.
For UP, the new Kansas City Intermodal Terminal (KCIT) provides a critical interchange point, connecting domestic and international shipments of grains, consumer goods, refrigerated products and auto parts in the growing Midwest region to major markets across the United States. Recent changes to UP's network operations allow domestic containers to move 25% faster, saving up to 25 hours of transit time to and from Southern California to KCIT, UP officials said.
UP has invested $1.4 billion in its intermodal products, opening four new terminals and modernizing 12 others since 2021.
Meanwhile, NS is strengthening its long-standing presence in Louisville – historically focused on international intermodal – by modifying its terminal footprint to expand parking and track capacity, enabling service tailored to the domestic market’s growing needs, NS officials said.
The railroad has 54 terminals and connections to every major container port on the Atlantic coast, as well as major ports along the Gulf Coast and Great Lakes. Louisville is a growth area for NS, "so we are stepping up with service to help them reach untapped markets with a more reliable, sustainable alternative to trucking," said NS Chief Commercial Officer Ed Elkins.