Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern defend their merger application against rival railroads' objections, urging regulators to expedite the process.
Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have announced that their 6,692-page merger application is complete. They are urging regulators to reject rival railroads' attempts to delay the approval process, according to reports from New York's FreightWaves.
Rival companies BNSF, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian National, and CSX have argued that the Surface Transportation Board should reject the merger filing. They cite concerns over missing details in the merger agreement, insufficient competition analysis, and a lack of review regarding potential future mergers.
Union Pacific has dismissed most of these claims as baseless or misguided. The company stated that the omitted material from the merger agreement only pertains to regulatory risk and does not alter the transaction terms. UP emphasized that disputes over privileged information should be resolved through discovery rather than by rejecting the application.
Additionally, UP countered claims regarding traffic diversion data, asserting that its workpapers included county-level details on two million truckloads. The company also rejected suggestions that it should bear the cost of data licenses to support its competitors' participation in the case.
Norfolk Southern has focused on CSX's request for a separate proceeding concerning the Norfolk & Portsmouth Belt Line Railroad. NS argues that this request is an attempt to gain an advantage at the Port of Virginia and is unnecessary, as the application already addresses potential board rulings.
Similarly, UP contended that CSX's request for a separate proceeding on the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis is unwarranted. They noted that the application commits to divesting NS's share to ensure UP's post-merger ownership remains below 50 percent.
The Surface Transportation Board will now decide whether to accept the application. In 2021, the board initially rejected CSX's bid for Pan Am Railways before later approving a revised filing, while the merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern was accepted despite objections.
