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your homegrown newspaper March 4, 2026
Vol. 22, No. 26
What does an $85B railroad merger have to do with Montana?
FVCC President pg. 6
The proposed merger would create the country’s largest railroad; Montana politicians are weighing in about what that could mean to the state’s businesses and ag producers. by Justin Franz, Montana Free Press
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Veterinarian families pg. 8
Sports pg. 13
ast month, the host of the “Montana Talks” morning radio show spent a 10-minute segment interviewing a BNSF Railway official about the company’s opposition to a proposed merger between two rival railroads. To even the most well-informed listener, the segment may have been the first time they heard about the plan to combine the railroads, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, into a coast-to-coast behemoth spanning more than 50,000 miles of track and 43 states. If approved
A Union Pacific freight train is seen traveling through British Columbia in February 2018.
by federal regulators, it would be the largest railroad in America by tens of thousands of miles. The proposed merger has drawn attention from businesses and Montana’s congressional delegation in Washington, D.C., who have signed letters urging regulators to proceed with caution and conduct a “rigorous and comprehensive review.” With elected leaders
expressing concern here in Montana, one would think Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern are major players in the state. They’re not. In fact, more than 90% of Montana’s railways are controlled by one company: BNSF. So, what does this (mostly) out-of-state railroad mega merger have to do with Montana? Here’s an explanation: Who’s merging and w w w.va l le yj our na l.net
why? While the proposed merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern has gotten little media attention in Montana, it’s a big deal in the railroad world. On July 29, 2025, UP announced its intent to acquire NS for $85 billion in a transaction that would create the largest railroad in the country and the first single-rail line connecting
JUSTIN FRANZ / MTFP PHOTO
the East and West coasts. UP and NS are two of the six large “Class I” freight railroads that operate in North America. Together, these six operators cover about 140,000 miles of track, with two major railroads in the west, two in the east and two in Canada (although the Canadian operators have a major presence in see page 2