In arguing for the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern rail merger, which would create the first coast-to-coast US railroad if approved by the Surface Transportation Board, Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena said a major benefit would be faster transit times.
However, the merger is making waves with other railroads: BNSF, CPKC and CSX. The three Class I railroads said in a September 14 letter to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) that UP and NS have made substantial amendments to their application with a comment deadline 65 days away:
Vena defended the proposed merger in a speech at the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) Expo 2026 in Long Beach, California.
Vena cited the rail transit-time savings that the merger would provide for a rail shipment going from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to Salt Lake City, Utah:
“What happens if you’re moving today from Harrisburg to Salt Lake? The shipment comes on an NS [Norfolk Southern] train to 47th Street in Chicago. In Chicago, it is unloaded and trucked over to UP’s G2 terminal. These are real-life examples. At G2, our terminal, then we have to make a connection to the next one. That … adds … over a day of impact to that load. When we’re one railroad—and this is what we’re selling—it’s up to the customer whether this is beneficial, okay?”
After the proposed merger: “The shipment will still depart on a train out of Harrisburg. When it gets to Chicago, what happens to it then is it’s a block swap from one train to the other. There’s no offloading it. As soon as you offload, something could happen, right? Anytime you have an event with a railcar or a container or a trailer, something could happen … And we’ll do everything we can to even tighten that up … So, you gain a day faster service.”
Benefits and Bottlenecks
One beneficiary would be the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which would benefit from saving nearly a day of rail transit time from Southern California to destinations in the East: “And one of the lanes, especially from Southern California over to the Northeast, is actually 232 miles shorter. That 232 miles is huge. That gives us a day advantage to anybody else.”
Vena introduced a UP video that provided the main arguments the railroad is making in favor of the merger:
“Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern are tearing down the barrier and building America’s first coast-to-coast railroad.
“A single line that connects nearly every major port, industrial region, and population center in the country, and seamless routes that give customers faster, more predictable service that removes up to two days of transit.
“For shippers, this means one contract, one bill and end-to-end visibility, making rail a true competitor. It takes trucks off congested highways, reducing wear on taxpayer-funded roads.
“The merger also removes bottlenecks and interchange in markets like Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City and New Orleans. Every weekday in Chicago, over 1,000 trucks move freight within the city from one railroad to the next.”
Vena said that competitors, such as BNSF Railway, that criticize the merger cannot see the obvious benefit:
“Bottom line is anybody who’s against this, especially our competitors, is worried about what we’re going to be able to offer. We’re not offering something more expensive. The single line is always less expensive than two railroads handling something. And especially if you have two railroads and a short line, it gets expensive compared to a single line. So, we’re willing to offer customers a single line.”
Not a Done Deal?
While Vena expressed confidence that the merger would happen, he did express a brief concern that it might not:
“I’m here to make money. If I can make money off it, why would I not? … I think we’ve done something that, if the STB’s going to approve this—but let’s say I had a nightmare and they didn’t approve it—they just agreed to keep the supply chain inefficient. Inefficiencies cost money.”
So, financially, can UP handle this merger? Vena answered affirmatively:
“Yes, it’s $85 billion. A bunch of it is stock, but there is around $20 billion worth of cash. Listen, we can afford it. Can we afford the breakup fee, the $2.5 billion, if the STB—when … they will, okay—puts this merger forward? But can we afford the $2.5 billion? Yeah, we got more than that sitting in the bank already because we haven’t been buying back shares or anything else.”
Vena said the merger has strong support:
“So, the benefits are across the supply chain. We keep on receiving positive letters … from customers, from politicians. We have several states that have come out for it. We’ve had governors. We have customers. And in actual fact, other than the associations, we have three customers that have written in to the STB against the merger. And the three—two of the three—actually originate on Burlington Northern Santa Fe, not on UP. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t listen to the opposition …”
Jobs and Job Losses?
The Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger would result in some lost jobs. A questioner noted that the UP video promised that no union jobs would be lost but that a similar promise was not made to safeguard nonunion jobs.
Vena responded that the merger would mean that executives at Norfolk Southern would face job cuts, including Norfolk Southern President and CEO Mark R. George:
“Let’s talk about the non-unionized jobs. Listen, you only need one CEO … so one of us is not going to get the job. Mark knows it. There’s only going to be one CFO. We know that. So, at the very top of the house, don’t worry about it; they will be taken care of. Now, we are looking today for the best talent … within the two companies. And I’ve met with a lot of people because there’s a lot of really smart people in Norfolk Southern. And we will do everything we can to keep them.”
Vena said the UP railroad has come a long way from the days when it was inefficient and employed too many workers, citing the caboose car that used to utilize a two-worker crew:
“UP removed the caboose, and actually, as an engineer, that’s one of the best things we’ve ever done. Listen, I was on a caboose, so I’ll tell you this is the truth. When you don’t have enough work for the two people in the back, they decide to … cook breakfast, cook lunch … take a nap, do whatever. But they were really bad at giving the communication back to the locomotive engineer about what was happening with the brakes.”
