Union Pacific (UP) informed the Land Transportation Board (STB) that it will submit a new application for its merger with Norfolk Southern (NS) on April 30 .
In a letter sent to the aforementioned organization, UP indicated that the decision was due to the fact that the first document submitted was considered incomplete by that regulatory authority.
“Union Pacific Corporation, Union Pacific Railroad Company, Norfolk Southern Corporation and Norfolk Southern Railway Company are submitting this letter to inform the Board that they anticipate submitting a revised application on April 30, 2026,” the letter dated February 17 stated.
It is worth remembering that on January 16, the STB reported that it rejected the request and invited both companies to submit another one that addresses the deficiencies noted in the decision.
The STB specified that railway companies must include a full system impact analysis , market share projections for the entity to be created through the transaction, and the full merger agreement, including the submission of any contract or other written instrument relating to the transaction.
In addition to actual and projected market shares of certain revenues and traffic volumes that demonstrate, among other things, the impact of the transaction on competition, to name a few.
“In the application, the railway companies project that the merger will result in traffic growth, including diversions, and state that the full impact of the transaction will not be realized until three years after completion. However, they present as projected market shares only the sum of the estimated actual market shares of UP and NS for 2023. The application does not contain future market share projections that show the combined effects of merger-related growth, diversions, and merger-influenced changes, as well as other changes in market conditions that the applicants anticipate,” STB stated at the time.
In addition to those problems, the authority identified further deficiencies in the application , such as the control of the St. Louis Railroad Association Terminal, since it is a significant transaction, not a minor one; “the decision identifies several technical and minor aspects that must be addressed in any reviewed application.”
The US railroads filed their merger application on December 19, 2025, a nearly 7,000-page document that includes a record 2,000 letters of support from stakeholders, joining shareholders of both companies who cast votes with 99% in favor of the merger.
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