Railroad history, it seems, can wait a little longer.
Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern today told federal regulators they will file a revised application for their blockbuster merger by April 30.
That’s nearly two months later than the March deadline set by the railroads after the Surface Transportation Board in January rejected the nearly 7,000-page initial application as incomplete.
The new deadline from UP (NYSE: UNP) and NS (NYSE: NSC) came in a status letter requested by the STB by Feb. 17.
“Union Pacific notified the Surface Transportation Board today that we intend to refile our merger application with Norfolk Southern and remain fully committed to addressing their request for additional information,” the Omaha-based company said in a statement. “America’s first transcontinental railroad is supported by more than 2,000 stakeholders who understand how this end-to-end combination will enhance competition and deliver broad public benefits by shifting an estimated 2 million truckloads from the highway to rail, protecting union jobs and driving substantial cost savings.”
The new date comes as events swirl around the STB’s evaluation of the merger, which would create a coast-to-coast network with 53,000 miles of track in 43 states.
Last week, the top anti-trust specialist at the Justice Department, Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater, was forced out in a dispute with Attorney General Pam Bondi. This week, attorney generals from seven GOP states in a letter to the STB characterized the proposed merger as anti-competitive and likely to raise prices for Americans.
This article was updated Feb. 17 to add a statement from Union Pacific.
Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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