Competing railroads claim UP-NS merger application omits key information
Competing railroads are pushing back on the merger application filed by Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, arguing that key details needed to evaluate the deal have been left out.
Canadian National (CN) filed the longest set of comments—91 pages including exhibits—and said the application fails to identify all shippers that will go from being served by two railroads to one, and from three railroads to two. Those changes matter because they describe where competition would shrink after a merger.
Other opposing railroads made a similar point, contending the application deliberately withholds crucial information, hindering a proper assessment of the merger’s true character and potential anticompetitive harms. In plain terms, they argue regulators and the public can’t fully judge the effects of the merger without a clearer map of which customers would lose rail options.
For trucking, the dispute is worth watching because rail competition can influence rates, service levels, and how freight is routed. When shippers have fewer rail choices, it can affect how much freight stays on rail versus shifts to trucks, and how reliably freight moves in certain lanes.
The comments focus less on the merger concept itself and more on whether the application provides enough shipper-by-shipper detail to measure where competition would be reduced and what that could mean for the freight market.