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Tag: Union Pacific

Coalition of rail, environmental advocacy groups asks STB to ensure public role in UP-NS merger proceedings

By | November 14, 2025

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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Union Pacific: We can avoid merger-related tech problems

By | November 14, 2025

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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Metra, UP tell STB that contract negotations continue

By | November 13, 2025
Commuter train departing large station with several other trains

WASHINGTON — The ongoing dispute between Metra and Union Pacific over commuter rail operations in the Chicago area was back before the Surface Transportation Board as the board resumed activity following the shutdown of the federal government. Both parties filed a joint status report on negotiations today (Nov. 13), while Metra offered a fairly brief […]

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UP’s Vena refutes BNSF claim it would close intermodal lanes after merger

By | November 13, 2025
Freight train with two yellow locomotives passing under signal bridge

A Union Pacific intermodal train heads east through Lombard, Ill., on Oct. 11, 2025. Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena this week responded to a BNSF claim that a UP-Norfolk Southern merger would lead to the elimination of 300 intermodal lanes. David Lassen A back-and-forth exchange this week between the CEOs of Union Pacific and BNSF […]

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News photo: UP, as in ‘unfamiliar place’

By | November 12, 2025
Yellow locomotive on passenger train

CHICAGO —  Commuters arriving today (Nov. 12) at the Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago — the former Chicago & North Western commuter terminal that serves Metra’s UP North, Northwest, and West lines — today may have been a bit surprised to find a train on Track 6 that was definitely not the usual Metra […]

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Opinion: UP-NS merger will get a rigorous and objective regulatory review

By | November 11, 2025
Man gesturing while talking

Trains Turntable: Commentary from Martin J. Oberman The proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger continues to dominate the news as well as conversation at all gatherings — formal and informal — in the railroad universe. Unfortunately, because of a few unrelated actions in the political world, along with repeated spin by self-interested parties, there is a […]

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Union Pacific to ensure job security of National Conference of Firemen and Oilers members in event of merger

By | November 10, 2025
Logo of National Conference of Firemen and Oilers

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has announced an agreement with the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers to ensure job security for members of the union if UP’s proposed merger with Norfolk Southern is approved. The agreement announced today (Nov. 10, 2025) commits that hundreds of NCFO members employed at the time of the merger […]

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STB nominees vow independence on UP-NS merger review despite D.C. partisanship

By | November 6, 2025

WASHINGTON — Surface Transportation Board nominees Richard Kloster and Michelle Schultz assured senators on Thursday that they will judge Union Pacific’s proposed acquisition of Norfolk Southern on the merits — and will not allow politics to influence their decisions on the largest merger in railroad history. Kloster and Schultz spoke during a hearing of the […]

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No injuries reported in Union Pacific derailment in Kansas

By | November 4, 2025
Tangle of derailed auto racks

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Approximately two dozen cars of a Union Pacific freight train derailed early Monday (Nov. 3) in Hutchinson, sending auto racks down an embankment and closing one lane of a state highway. The derailment occurred about 1 a.m. The Hays Post reports that the railroad said in a statement that there were no […]

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NTSB issues final report on UP conductor fatality in Kenosha, Wis.

By | November 3, 2025
Diagram of scene of fatal accident involving Union Pacific conductor and Metra train in Kenosha, Wis.

WASHINGTON — The conductor of a Union Pacific train was standing in a track adjacent to his train for an unknown reason when he was struck and killed by a Metra train, the National Transportation Safety Board said in its final investigation report on the Sept. 4, 2024, accident in Kenosha, Wis. The incident occurred […]

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Senators ask STB to look closely at UP-NS merger proposal

By | November 1, 2025

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of U.S. senators have asked the Surface Transportation Board to conduct a “rigorous and comprehensive evaluation” of the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger, expressing concern about its impact on agricultural producers and its possible impact on competition. “Already highly consolidated, the current landscape of railroads as it exists today represents […]

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SMART-TD reaches tentative agreement with Union Pacific

By | November 1, 2025
Train with yellow locomotive on curve through surburan community

WASHINGTON — The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division has reached a tentative agreement with Union Pacific, the labor union announced Friday, Oct. 31. The agreement’s basic terms are the same as in the national agreement just ratified by SMART-TD members [see “SMART-TD ratifies …,” Trains.com, Oct. 30, 2025]. It […]

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