Surface Transportation Board

National Mediation Board (NMB) member and Democrat Deirdre Hamilton has sued to regain her post following her Oct. 14, 2025, firing by POTUS 47—one of many legally questionable independent federal…

WATCHING WASHINGTON, FEBRUARY 2026 ISSUE: Call them the “menses horribiles.” They’ve not been kind to the desired wedlock of Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS), and worse for UP…

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Jan. 30 directed Green Eagle Railroad (GER) to provide more information on its proposed construction and operation of a 1.335-mile, double-tracked common carrier rail…

With an STB merger refiling for the acquisition of Norfolk Southern anticipated “in the coming weeks,” Union Pacific (UP) posted “a record-breaking year and delivered best-ever safety, service, and operating…

Norfolk Southern (NS) on Jan. 21 reported launching East Edge, a newly cleared double-stack intermodal corridor connecting Chicago and New England. It replaces a single-stack route, reducing transit times by…

BNSF provides an operational performance update. Also, Norfolk Southern (NS) generates record scrap metal revenue; and CN's Material Planning team reaches 1,000-plus days “injury-free.”

January 16, 2026: In a decision predicted by Railway Age (“Why Not a Merger Timeout?,” Watching Washington, November 2025 issue), the Surface Transportation Board in a unanimous decision rejected, “without…

CN on Jan. 8 filed a motion with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) “to compel additional information in relation to the proposed merger agreement between Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk…

Republican Richard Kloster, whose nomination to an open seat on the Surface Transportation Board (STB) failed to exit the Senate Commerce Committee during the first session of the 119th Congress,…

FINANCIAL EDGE, RAILWAY AGE JANUARY 2026 ISSUE: All industries have “drops.” In the world of the sneaker-head it is the release of the latest Air Jordan basketball shoe. For movies…

WATCHING WASHINGTON, RAILWAY AGE JANUARY 2026 ISSUE: It’s called “unitary executive theory.” It asserts the Constitution’s Article II provides for one executive, the President, and others may not wield substantial…

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) “should reject the efforts of a few parties … to delay and prolong this proceeding by claiming the [recently filed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern] Application [seeking…

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) announced Jan. 7 a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM)—Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Competition: Review of Part 1144, Docket Ex Parte No. 788—which, if finalized…

Dear Customers: As I shared, Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS) filed their merger application with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, as we headed into…

All four Class I railroads—BNSF, CN, CPKC, CSX—that will remain independent, at least in the short term, if the Surface Transportation Board approves the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger, have given…

We hosted a former Class I CEO to review the recent Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger application. He sees a very strong filing with acceptance likely though not until 2027. The…

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern’s growth-oriented merger argument remains sound, but the bid-ask spread on competitive concessions remains unknown until the rails respond. Downstream, we view today’s filing as constructive…

When Congress passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, Americans were promised modernization of the country’s transportation network. Roads, bridges, ports, and supply chains were all supposed to emerge faster, stronger, and more competitive. …

’Twas one week before Christmas, and all through the land, rail stakeholders were stirring, as Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern dealt their merger hand.

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has adopted for first-quarter 2026 the rail cost adjustment factor (RCAF), which is defined as “an index formulated to represent changes in railroad costs incurred…