Everybody's got opinions: UP-NS merger critics respond to STB decision on application
6/5/2026
By Bridget Dean, Senior Associate Editor
The Surface Transportation Board on May 28 determined Union Pacific Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railway’s application to merge was complete ... mostly.
While the railroads won’t be required to submit another application, all review proceedings have been placed on hold while UP-NS provides more information for the board to review by July 27.
In response, UP-NS acknowledged the request while remaining adamant that its application was comprehensive and backed by a detailed plan to integrate the railroads through an $85 billion transaction.
Meanwhile, critics of the merger applauded the STB’s decision to put the review on hold, saying the application as it stands is an “extremely flawed proposal,” according to a statement issued on May 28 by the Stop the Rail Merger Coalition. The coalition represents several shipper associations, two labor unions that represent the majority of UP’s workers, CPKC and BNSF Railway.
“We appreciate the board’s thorough and thoughtful approach to make a fully informed decision regarding the largest and most complex rail consolidation in U.S. history,” coalition officials said.
CN separately responded to the STB decision, reiterating the company’s belief that UP and NS’ efforts have not met application standards for a merger of its size. About 40% of all U.S. freight-rail traffic would be controlled under the merged railroad, CN officials said on May 28. The proposed merger would reduce rail options for shippers, creating less rail competition, they added.
“The applicants’ proposed remedies remain narrow, temporary and insufficient to offset the merger’s competitive harms,” CN officials said.
While it did not issue a statement on the STB’s decision to conditionally accept the merger application, CSX already made its stance on the proposed transaction clear: A merged UP and NS would offset the balance of Class I operations in North America, CSX officials said. Following the second UP-NS application filing, CSX on May 4 launched a new website to help its customers stay up to date on the merger proceedings.
“[The industry is currently] competitively balanced, with two western railroads, two eastern railroads and two Canadian railroads. The proposed transaction would replace that balance with a single transcontinental railroad competing against several regionally focused carriers,” CSX officials said in a statement on its CSX Staying on Track website.
Labor, states’ attorneys general, shippers share perspective
Several rail worker unions commended the STB’s review pause, too. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, a sector of the Teamsters Rail Conference, believes the UP-NS proposal overstates benefits while minimizing potential harms.
Other labor unions have backed the merger. In April, the American Train Dispatchers became the sixth national union to reach an agreement with UP that guarantees job protection for employees following the merger. SMART-Transportation Division, the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers, the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and the United Supervisors Council of America have signed similar agreements.
States’ attorneys general have also weighed in on the proposed merger application, regarding its completeness and what it proposes. A group of six AGs led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen on May 22 asked the STV to deny the application as incomplete.
“Attorneys general across the country have warned that this merger could reduce competitive options for shippers — ultimately increasing costs for businesses and raising prices for consumers,” they wrote.
The attorneys raised concerns about market shares, downstream consolidation and control of joint-owned assets — three topics that the STB did request more information about.
While UP-NS prepares to submit the supplemental information, more stakeholders are filing comments or notices of intent to participate in the merger review with the STB. Since the board’s May 28 decision, more than 20 individuals, railroads, associations, government entities and shippers have filed with the STB.
One comment, filed May 29, comes from Houston resident and multimodal shipper Scott Singleton. In his letter, he asked that the STB consider blocked rail crossings when evaluating the proposed merger’s merits.
Citing his own instances of time lost to blocked crossings in his community, Singleton highlighted how UP’s 1996 merge with Southern Pacific resulted in “chaos in the Gulf region,” he said. The proposed UP-NS merger is projected to grow freight volumes throughout Singleton’s community.
Singleton disagreed that UP and NS could address blocked crossings via the STB environmental review process, as the applicants argued in a May 12 correspondence to the STB. Singleton urged the board, should it approve the merger, also to impose conditions that address blocked crossings.
Houston City Council member Joaquin Martinez on May 29 also filed concerns about the city’s grade crossings, and what the impact of the merger would be on residents of her district.
Another comment, filed on May 26 by Atlantic Systems President Andrew Robertson, requested the STB put protections in place to avoid political influence when reviewing the application. The letter raised concern about a May 26 interview with President Donald Trump published in Fortune, which cited a possible government stake in the merger.
“These statements imply a conditional relationship between federal political support and financial consideration — a posture wholly inconsistent with the Board’s statutory obligation to evaluate rail consolidations solely on competitive, service, employee, and public-interest grounds,” Robertson wrote.
The STB will review these comments and more while making its full review of the proposed merger. The board won’t close the comment period until after UP-NS submit supplemental information and all stakeholders have had the opportunity to review and respond to new details, STB officials said. A procedural schedule will be announced in a later decision, they added.
