Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern Submit Combination Application to STB

The Union Pacific Corporation and Norfolk Southern Corporation have filed an application with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) formally requesting approval to combine the two railroads.

The two parties initially entered a merger agreement on 29 July 2025 to create the country’s first transcontinental railroad, and the new 7,000-page application provides a slew of new details on how the end-to-end combination will enable both enhanced competition and provide broad public benefits.

The application also includes 2,000 letters of support from stakeholders, which join shareholders from both companies who voted 99% in favour of the merger.

Within its 7,000 pages, the application proposes plans to:

• Connect the United States rail network from coast to coast, transforming 10,000 existing lanes from interline service to single-line service
• Move freight more efficiently, eliminating roughly 2,400 rail car and container handlings and 60,000 car-miles every day
• Retain competitive shipping alternatives for the three customer locations out of more than 20,000 currently served by Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern
• Compete more effectively with long-haul trucking, converting almost 2 million truckloads of freight from road to rail per year
• Protect all union jobs
• Further enhance competition by voluntarily creating Committed Gateway Pricing, streamlining pricing of interline moves for thousands of customer locations that otherwise may not directly benefit from the merger itself
• Keep open all existing gateways for eligible traffic on commercially reasonable terms
• Provide customers with one unified digital experience, with a sole accountable partner for every rail journey
• Invest an estimated 2.1 billion USD of incremental capital to support revenue and cost synergies, and expect 133 million USD in annual capital synergies

Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena said:

We look forward to working with the Surface Transportation Board as it reviews our historic application to create America’s first transcontinental railroad.

As time and technology continue to transform how freight is delivered, our industry must keep pace and move forward, reaching underserved markets with new rail solutions and strengthening the U.S. supply chain. Customers deserve stronger, more connected freight rail, and our merger will make that happen.

Norfolk Southern President and CEO Mark George said:

This combination will bring together Union Pacific’s expansive Western reach and Norfolk Southern’s unparalleled access to Eastern manufacturing and population centers in an end-to-end combination.

It will create a cohesive freight rail solution with 50,000 route miles that connect 43 states and more than 100 ports.

Additional customer benefits are, according to the application, set to include faster, more efficient service; expanded service offerings; improved customer asset utilisation; a simplified customer experience backed by new technology; streamlined pricing for interline moves; efficient dispute resolution; and growth for short lines.

Currently; the transaction remains subject to STB and approval as part of its statutory timeline, and will be subject to continuing STB oversight post-closure.