UP now expects to file NS merger application around Dec. 16
PALM BEACH, Fla. – Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern expect to file merger filings with federal regulators around Dec. 16, two weeks later than they originally hoped.
UP CEO Jim Vena said at an investor conference Tuesday that one of the contractors working on part of the application needed additional time to complete the massive document before it was sent to the Surface Transportation Board.
“We want to make sure the final product is outstanding, so that when we give it to STB, they feel comfortable that we answered their questions and gave them the information they wanted,” says Vena.
The application is expected to run more than 4,000 pages. It will detail the railway’s growth forecasts and operating plan. Once the application is submitted, STB will have 30 days to accept the application or reject it as incomplete.
Other Class I railroads have intensified their opposition to the $85 billion merger in recent weeks, arguing it would hurt competition, cause integration-related service problems and hurt the economy.
BNSF Railroad also asked federal regulators to review UP’s compliance with conditions designed to protect competition following UP’s 1996 acquisition of Southern Pacific. BNSF argues that UP has consistently attempted to deny it access to carriers once served by both UP and SP, and that UP has prioritized sending its own trains on lines where BNSF has been granted monitoring rights.
Vena says the opposition is a sign that other railroads see the advantages of a transcontinental UP system and don’t want to compete with a railroad that can offer faster, more efficient single-track service from coast to coast.
“They understand what we have to offer and ask, ‘How can we compete with that?’” Vena says. “they ask.”
BNSF, Canadian National and CPKC argued that railroads could grow through line-to-line partnerships rather than mergers. UP says the alliances are temporary and cannot compete with a unified railway that controls shipments from origin to destination.
Vena spoke at the UBS Global Industry and Transport Conference.
