WASHINGTON — CSX Transportation has objected to the accelerated schedule Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have proposed for Surface Transportation Board consideration of the UP-NS merger, with CSX offering its own proposal for a slightly longer schedule than an STB proposal that largely follows an earlier UP-NS proposal. CSX says the proposed shorter timeline “imposes […]
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CHICAGO — If Union Pacific wanted to show the media how trains can sit around in the nation’s rail capital, it was mission accomplished last week aboard its executive train. As the six-car train headed west at 10 mph on Wednesday — rolling between the Belt Railway of Chicago’s Clearing Yard to the north and […]
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ScaleTrains HO EMD SD7 Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Direct-current model with 21-pin connector, $214.99; with ESU LokSound V5 sound decoder, two cube-type speakers, and an ESU-designed “PowerPack” with two super capacitors, $324.99. Manufacturer: ScaleTrains, 4901 Old Tasso Road NE, Cleveland, TN 37312; 844-987-2467; scaletrains.com ScaleTrains HO EMD SD7 features: All-wheel drive and electrical pickup Detailed […]
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WASHINGTON — A Union Pacific locomotive’s horn and warning devices at a grade crossing provided little advance notice before a fatal collision at a grade crossing in Elgin, Ill., according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report on the Oct. 23, 2025, incident. The accident occurred about 6:30 a.m., when a locomotive running light […]
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CHICAGO — Confidence was not in short supply when Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena held a rolling news conference last week to tout UP’s proposed acquisition of Norfolk Southern. “I’m 99.999% sure that this merger is going to go through,” Vena said on Wednesday from the back of the Fox River theater car as UP’s […]
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OMAHA, Neb. — The Brotherhood of Railway Carmen and Union Pacific have reached an agreement that provides job security for hundreds of union employees if UP’s $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern wins regulatory approval. The BRC is the third union to reach an agreement with Union Pacific that ensures union members employed at both […]
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CHICAGO — Metra has been awarded $19.3 million in its suit against Union Pacific over UP’s decision not to collect fares on Metra trains during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a news report. The suburban Daily Herald newspaper reports a Cook County, Ill., jury delivered the verdict on Wednesday. Metra spokesman Michael Gillis told the […]
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WASHINGTON — The attorneys general from nine states have asked the Surface Transportation Board to give Union Pacific’s proposed acquisition of Norfolk Southern a thorough review, arguing that the merger will stifle competition, raise rates, and hurt manufacturers and agricultural producers. “An America First economy will not work if high internal shipping costs kneecap American […]
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CHICAGO — Some projects of the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency, or CREATE, program are begun and completed with relatively limited fanfare. That is certainly not the case with the Forest Hill Flyover, which carries the tracks of CSX Transportation over lines used by Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, the Belt Railway of Chicago, and […]
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ATLANTA — Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern today cleared their first merger hurdle as shareholders overwhelmingly backed their deal to create the first transcontinental railroad. In separate votes, nearly 99% of NS shareholders and 99.5% of UP shareholders approved UP’s proposed $85 billion acquisition of NS. “The approval of our shareholders marks a key milestone […]
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WASHINGTON — A coalition of rail and environmental groups has submitted comments to the Surface Transportation Board on the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger, asking the board to clarify whether “substantive filings” from stakeholders other than parties directly involved would be part of the review process. The organizations — the Rail Passengers Association, Southern Rail […]
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CHICAGO — Big railroad mergers have often been plagued by problematic computer cutovers that lead to service meltdowns, most recently this spring when CPKC extended its system to the legacy Kansas City Southern network in the U.S. Union Pacific pledges to avoid the same fate if its proposed $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern wins […]
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