With the official merger application expected on December 1, the proposed $85 billion Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern deal took center stage at the RailTrends conference in New York last week. The idea: create the nation’s first true transcontinental railroad, joining 50,000 route miles across 43 states and linking roughly 100 ports coast to coast.
What’s Related
RailTrends was hosted by Progressive Railroading magazine and independent rail analyst Tony Hatch, who laid out three core reasons driving the merger:
Long-standing interline issues
The chance to cut SG&A
What he called a “watershed opportunity” in the Mississippi River basin, where interchanges between Eastern and Western carriers have long limited efficiency.
Hatch said: “If interline becomes just a pit stop, you offer better service… but that’s an ‘if.’” He added that no one will really understand the full scope of the deal “until the STB filing” and broader reaction from key groups like shippers, suppliers, Amtrak, and local communities.
He also cautioned that other Class I railroads are in a wait-and-see mode, getting potential access benefits “without having to give anything up.” But if UP–NS becomes a dominant force, he said, “other railroads will merge… because right now UP is sailing in the dark on its own.”
Hatch called it perhaps “the most important decision in the 200-year history of the industry.”
Industry reaction
Kevin Boone, EVP & CFO at CSX, said long-standing service partnerships have worked because neither party controls the relationship. That could change. “Those things are going to have to be resolved as we work through the process,” he said. Boone pointed to the watershed opportunity but warned it requires real investment—not just single-line access.
Tom Williams, EVP & CMO at BNSF, said the merger could reshape the industry—and fast. The application will be the first under the STB’s new 2001 rules, which require proof that the merger is in the public interest and enhances competition. That higher standard, he said, “hasn’t been tested.”
Williams added that some claims so far “don’t pass the common-sense test,” noting that eliminating two existing transcontinental pairings would eliminate entire lanes overnight.
Visit Logistics Management for more reaction to the Norfolk Southern-Union Pacific merger.
