The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) is calling on Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern to stop downplaying the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB or Board) serious concerns with their proposed merger and provide the information necessary for a full, transparent, and independent review.
The STB recently accepted the revised UP/NS merger application for consideration, but it also held the proceeding in abeyance and required the applicants to provide substantial supplemental information by July 27, 2026. That is not a routine scheduling matter. It reflects the Board’s determination that significant information is still needed before stakeholders can meaningfully evaluate the proposed transaction.
Despite that, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have publicly framed the decision as a major step forward. Union Pacific’s recent public statements regarding the statutory timeline only add to the concern that Union Pacific is attempting to pressure the Board into moving on the railroads’ preferred schedule, even though the delay stems from the applicants’ own failure to provide sufficient information.
“Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern are asking the public to trust them with the largest rail consolidation in modern history, while still withholding or under developing critical information about how this merger would affect workers, service, safety, competition, and the national rail network,” said BRS President Michael Baldwin. “The STB should not be rushed, pressured, or boxed into an artificial timeline created by the applicants’ own incomplete filings.”
BRS represents the workers responsible for installing, maintaining, inspecting, and repairing the signal systems, highway-rail grade crossing warning systems, and train control infrastructure that keep the railroad operating safely. Any merger of this size must be judged not only by shareholder projections and executive promises, but by its real-world impact on rail workers, shippers, passengers, communities, and the public.
The Board’s request for additional information goes to the core of the merger review, including competition, service, downstream effects, traffic projections, and the ability of the proposed merged carrier to deliver on its claimed public benefits. BRS is especially concerned that information related to employee impacts and workforce consequences must be made available to the greatest extent possible so workers and their representatives can meaningfully participate in the process.
“This proceeding cannot become a public relations campaign where the applicants provide only what they want to disclose and then blame the regulator for insisting on a complete record,” Baldwin said. “Rail workers have lived through decades of consolidation, cost-cutting, furloughs, and service failures. We know what happens when Wall Street projections are allowed to outrun operational reality.”
BRS supports a rigorous, transparent, and complete STB review. The proposed Union Pacific/Norfolk Southern merger would reshape the national freight rail system for generations. The Board, stakeholders, and the public deserve a full record before any decision is made.
“Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have the burden to prove this transaction serves the public interest and enhances competition,” Baldwin said. “That burden should not be lowered because the applicants are impatient. The STB must be allowed to do its job.”
