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 executive power
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 authorization to
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 following public
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 the holiday.
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 the application
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 CGP (Committed
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 for domestic
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. Several years
’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 by the nation’s largest railroads over a specified period of time.”