Union Pacific Railroad confirmed it is in “advanced discussions” about a possible merger with Norfolk Southern Railway, CEO Jim Vena told analysts during a July 24 earnings call.
“There are no assurances that we'll reach an agreement, but we are talking,” said Vena. He further clarified that the company will not make additional comments on the matter until there is “something to disclose.”
The Wall Street Journal reported last week the two railroads were in talks about combining their networks. Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern confirmed the news in separate staements released Thursday before Union Pacific’s Q2 earnings call.
The announcement comes two years after Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern combined in the first major railway consolidation in two decades. The merger created the first network connecting the U.S., Mexico and Canada. CPKC has since focused on growing its business in North America, and last year created an intermodal service interchange with CSX to connect shippers to Mexico, Texas and the Southeast U.S.
More recently in April, Norfolk Southern and BNSF Railway partnered to cut transit times with an intermodal service connecting the Northwest Seaport Alliance to Chicago.
