Last July, two of the largest railroad companies in the U.S.—Union Pacific Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railway—announced their intention to merge their networks, giving birth to the nation’s first railroad spanning coast to coast. The companies submitted an application to do so to the Surface Transportation Board, the federal body that regulates railroads, late last month.
But the deal has now run into some trouble with regulators, although it’s not insurmountable trouble. And control of a key St. Louis entity is one of the two major potential problems.
To understand why, it helps to know a little history…