Railroads debate merits of mergers and alliances

NEW YORK — BNSF Railway, Canadian National, and Canadian Pacific Kansas City are touting interline partnerships as a way to gain new volume without having the regulatory and service-meltdown risks associated with a merger. But Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern say alliances are built on a foundation of sand, and can shift with the whims […]

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BNSF and CSX expand intermodal partnership to Midwest, Northeast

FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway and CSX have expanded their intermodal partnership with the launch today (Nov. 17, 2025) of faster interline service linking Los Angeles with the Ohio Valley and points in the Northeast. The new service from BNSF’s Hobart terminal to CSX destinations improves transit time by anywhere from 22 to 52 […]

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UP, Brotherhood of Railway Carmen reach job protection agreement

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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Nine state attorneys general raise concerns about UP-NS merger

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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NS and UP shareholders overwhelmingly approve $85 billion merger

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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Union Pacific: We can avoid merger-related tech problems

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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