January 16, 2026
Applicants have until February 17, 2026, to inform the Board whether they intend to refile.
January 16, 2026 — As detailed in the attached release, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) has rejected, without prejudice, the merger application filed by Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS) in FD 36873. The Board cited two primary deficiencies in the application. One deficiency was that the impact analyses required under 49 C.F.R. § 1180.7(b) did not include market-share projections for the proposed merged entity that align with the applicants’ assertions that the transaction would increase traffic by diverting freight from trucks and other rail carriers.
Second, the application did not include the complete merger agreement required under 49 C.F.R. § 1180.6(a)(7)(ii), including documents expressly defined as part of the merger agreement and necessary to establish the applicants’ obligations under the transaction. Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have until February 17, 2026, to notify the Board whether, and when, they intend to refile.
The Board also rejected the applicants’ proposed acquisition of control of the Peoria and Pekin Union Railway Company (PPU) in Docket No. FD 36873 (Sub-No. 1), finding the transaction to be purely incidental to the rejected merger application. The Board further rejected the proposed acquisition of control of the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis (TRRA) in Docket No. FD 36873 (Sub-No. 2), concluding that it had been improperly classified as a “minor” transaction rather than a “significant” transaction.
