Railroad Merger Lobbying Heats Up Ahead of Union Pacific Filing

A lobbying war is heating up over an $85 billion deal to create the nation’s first transcontinental freight railroad that pits two major railroad companies against more than a dozen US senators alongside major chemical, energy, and agriculture groups.

Union Pacific Corp. aims to to file an application by early December before the Surface Transportation Board on its plans to acquire Norfolk Southern Corp. The deal, which shareholders approved Friday, would create a 43-state behemoth the railroads maintain would improve transportation efficiency. The combined company would control roughly half of US freight traffic if approved by the STB.

“Union ...