(Dan McCaleb, The Center Square) Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern plan to create America’s first transcontinental railroad through a merger, connecting over 50,000 route miles across 43 states from the East Coast to the West Coast, the companies announced Tuesday.
The effort will link about 100 ports across North America, they said, and will allow them to compete more effectively with Canadian railroads to win back U.S. freight volume and American jobs.
“This combination will transform the U.S. supply chain, unleash the industrial strength of American manufacturing, and create new sources of economic growth and workforce opportunity that preserves union jobs,” they said in a joint news release.
President Donald Trump has made revitalizing American manufacturing a top priority of his second term. Tuesday’s announcement advances those efforts.
“Railroads have been an integral part of building America since the Industrial Revolution, and this transaction is the next step in advancing the industry,” Jim Vena, Union Pacific’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. “Imagine seamlessly hauling steel from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Colton, California and moving tomato paste from Heron, California to Fremont, Ohio. Lumber from the Pacific Northwest, plastics from the Gulf Coast, copper from Arizona and Utah, and soda ash from Wyoming. Right now, tens of thousands of railroaders are moving almost everything we use. You name it, and at some point, the railroad hauled it.”
Union Pacific’s creation dates to 1862, when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act. Under the terms of Tuesday’s deal, Union Pacific said it will acquire Norfolk Southern in a stock and cash transaction. The acquisition will need approval from federal regulators, including the Surface Transportation Board and its chairman Patrick Fuchs, a Trump appointee. The board’s other current members are Trump appointees Robert Primus and Michelle Schultz and Biden appointee Karen Hedlund.
The merger “will unlock rail options for shippers in regions where railroad connections are less efficient, such as the Ohio Valley and on both sides of the Mississippi River, creating a more accessible, sustainable, and lower-cost supply chain for manufacturers and consumers,” the companies said.
The merger will also reduce the amount of interchanges shipping companies will have to deal with. Schneider’s cross-border intermodal traffic between the U.S. and Mexico, for example, surged last year after the 2023 merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern. That merger allowed Schneider to use a single rail line, helping it grow at twice the industry’s 17% rate.
“Norfolk Southern, like Union Pacific, is a railroad integral to the U.S. economy, with a storied 200-year legacy of serving customers across 22 states in the eastern half of the nation,” Mark George, CEO of Norfolk Southern, said in a statement.
“This combination is transformational, enhancing the best freight transportation system in the world – it’s a win for the American economy, it’s a win for our customers, and it’s a win for our people,” Vena added. “It builds on President Abraham Lincoln’s vision of a transcontinental railroad from nearly 165 years ago and advances our Safety, Service and Operational Excellence Strategy.”
