Stop the Rail Merger Coalition Launches to Oppose Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern Merger

A new coalition, launched today, unites a broad cross section of the U.S. economy in opposing the proposed merger of Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern rail lines. If allowed to move forward, the deal would create the largest consolidated railroad in U.S. history and give a single entity control over almost half of the nation's rail traffic.

The Stop the Rail Merger Coalition, which represents major railroad operators, customers, and workers, warns the merger would reduce competition, drive up costs for American manufacturers, farmers and consumers, and inject new vulnerabilities into the nation's workforce and supply chain, at a moment when affordability and resilience matter most.

The newly-formed group includes the American Chemistry Council, the American Farm Bureau Federation, Teamsters Rail Conference, BNSF Railway, CPKC Railway, Alliance for Chemical Distribution (ACD), National Industrial Transportation League (NITL), and Vinyl Institute. The Teamsters Rail Conference makes up the majority of the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern's unionized workforce.

This new coalition joins a growing group of more than 100 state and federal policymakers, including attorneys general and agriculture secretaries, who are urging the administration to hit the brakes on this unnecessary merger.

To highlight just how out of touch this merger is with America, the coalition is releasing a new national poll conducted this month by McLaughlin & Associates, a nationally recognized firm. The findings show overwhelming opposition from Americans to this unpopular merger, including:

• Nearly 71% of Americans oppose the merger after learning about its impacts, while just 20% support it.
• The majority of voters believe the merger would increase costs for shipping by rail, raise prices on everyday goods, and hurt jobs.
• 68% believe the merged company would keep promised cost savings for itself, rather than passing them on to businesses or consumers.
• Concerns about monopoly power cut across party lines. The national survey confirms nearly 70% of Americans, including Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, overwhelmingly agree with Vice President J.D. Vance that when "one or two companies dominate an entire sector, it's bad for liberty and it's bad for prosperity."
• 54% say they are more likely to support a candidate who opposes the merger.

View John McLaughlin's memo on the poll here.

The polling confirms what shippers, workers, and businesses across the country already know firsthand: this merger would leave Americans with fewer choices and higher costs. Members of the coalition echoed voters' concerns:

"Farmers and ranchers rely heavily on rail service to get products to families across the country," said President of the American Farm Bureau Federation Zippy Duvall. "This merger would lead to greater consolidation and higher costs when farmers are already hard-pressed with economic headwinds beyond their control. Ultimately, those costs ripple far beyond the farm gate, impacting not only the price of food for Americans, but also likely pushing farm margins even lower."

"Union Pacific has yet to make the workforce commitments necessary to maintain network reliability or protect the communities and customers that depend on this rail system," said Teamsters Rail Conference President Mark Wallace. "Merging two Class I carriers of this scale without binding employment guarantees is not a business decision. It is a gamble with the nation's supply chain and the workers who keep it moving that ultimately the American taxpayer will have to bail out. The Teamsters Rail Conference will not stand aside while railroad executives hollow out the workforce and wreck our national freight rail system and call it progress while Americans suffer the consequences."

"Opposition to the UP-NS merger proposal continues to grow across a broad range of stakeholders, including rail shippers and customers, business associations, unions and labor groups, railroads, elected officials, community leaders and more," said Keith Creel, president and CEO of CPKC. "All of them have deep and widespread unease about the implications of this unnecessary mega-merger on rail competition, affordability, supply chain reliability, and market balance. The U.S. rail network supports the strength and vitality of the American economy and its future is at stake. This decision is irreversible - it is imperative the Surface Transportation Board hears from all concerned parties. Now is the time to make your voice heard."

"This merger would further concentrate monopoly power in an industry already dominated by too few railroads-driving up costs, degrading service, and putting American manufacturing at a serious competitive disadvantage," said President and CEO of the American Chemistry Council Chris Jahn. "To bring jobs home, strengthen supply chains, and lead globally, we need more rail-to-rail competition and reliable service-not a rail monopoly that undermines the industrial comeback underway in this country."

"This did not begin with a customer asking for a UP-NS merger to happen," said President and Chief Executive Officer of BNSF Railway Katie Farmer. "It's driven by Wall Street on the promise of a big shareholder payout. It will eliminate competition, raise costs for consumers, and destabilize the supply chain that powers the American economy."

Union Pacific's own history underscores why regulators and the public should be skeptical. After the 1996 Union Pacific-Southern Pacific merger, commitments to preserve competition failed to materialize, service collapsed across the system, and competitors are still asking regulators to enforce long-ignored promises decades later. The lesson is simple: merger promises are easy to make, but hard to enforce once the damage is done. There is little reason to believe the UP-NS merger would end any differently.

The UP-NS merger must be rejected unless it clearly improves service and enhances rail-to-rail competition. This proposal fails that test.

To follow the group on social media, visit: https://x.com/StopRailMerger

Press Contacts

Mike Tomko
Director, Communications
(202) 406-3642
[email protected]

Bailey Corwine
Communications Manager
(202) 406-3643
[email protected]