Union Pacific Norfolk Southern merger filing sent back by STB

The Union Pacific Norfolk Southern merger filing is back with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) for revisions after the regulator said the submission was missing required information.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

The decision, issued Friday, comes as the agency moves to define what “enhanced competition” must mean under the stricter rail-merger framework adopted in 2001.

STB calls the merger application incomplete

In its decision on the railroads’ December submission, the STB said the incomplete merger application did not include key projections on market share and the deal’s effect on competition. The board rejected the filing without prejudice, which allows Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern to refile once those deficiencies are addressed.

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The proposed combination is the first major railroad merger to be reviewed under the tougher merger framework put in place more than two decades ago. Under those rules, applicants must show a transaction would enhance competition—not merely preserve it—while also delivering measurable public-interest benefits.

Market-share projections and competition impacts in focus

The STB said the railroads outlined projected traffic growth and diversions tied to a coast-to-coast carrier but provided only 2023 market-share data. The regulator said it also needed the required projections showing how the combined carrier’s share could evolve several years after closing, along with a clearer discussion of potential competition impacts, as reported by Reuters.

Canadian National raises competitive disclosure issues

The ruling followed a January filing by Canadian National, which argued that the application lacked critical competitive disclosures. Canadian National said the filing did not include, among other items, the methodology for identifying routes where two tracks feed into one and complete lists of potentially affected shippers—gaps it said would limit stakeholders’ ability to assess the merger’s competitive impact, an issue Railway Supply has also covered.

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern filed a nearly 7,000-page application on December 19, saying the deal would improve service reliability, divert freight from trucks to rail, retain shipper options, and deliver broad public benefits while protecting union jobs.

The STB stressed that returning the filing should not be read as an indication of how it might ultimately rule on the merits of a revised application. President Donald Trump has publicly backed the proposed merger, and the administration has tended to approve large transactions or impose remedies rather than block them outright. Under the previous Biden administration and its broader crackdown on consolidation, such a merger was considered unthinkable.

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