USA: The $85 billion UP–NS merger review has restarted, but STB also ordered the railroads to submit unfiltered datasets and refused fast-track treatment for their TRRA plans.

UP-NS merger application moves into STB review
Union Pacific Railroad/Norfolk Southern Railway

The STB’s Aug. 18 decision removes the merger proceeding, including the environmental review, from abeyance and starts the process for evaluating the deal’s merits, according to the STB’s own announcement. The board was explicit that this step “does not constitute a ruling on the merits.” In the same decision, it denied the request by UP and NS for expedited treatment of their TRRA divestiture proposals, including the planned transfer of Norfolk Southern’s ownership interest to CN.

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The dates that now matter

Parties seeking to participate as Parties of Record must file notices of intent by Sept. 4, although notices already submitted remain valid. Comments and protests on the merger’s merits are due Nov. 18, 2026, with responses to those comments due Feb. 16, 2027. The board will hold a public hearing on a date not yet set and expects the hearing to precede final briefs. Separately, the board ordered UP and NS to refile within 10 days — by Aug. 28 — any workpapers to which they had applied screening or filtering criteria, this time without those filters, so the board can review the complete underlying datasets.

What to watch as the case moves into 2027

The published schedule confirms that the merits proceeding will extend into at least 2027. Responses are not due until Feb. 16, with a public hearing and final briefs still to follow, while the board has set no date for a final decision.

Also worth tracking is how UP and NS respond to the denial of expedited treatment for their TRRA proposals. The decision confirms that the issue will not receive the fast-track process they requested, but the board has not yet specified a separate timetable for resolving it.

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