How the Union Pacific merger could revitalize America’s rail industry

The debate over the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger has the competition question backward. Critics in Washington are asking whether the two railroads are too big to combine, fearing a monopoly.

However, if we are serious about rebuilding American industry, strengthening the middle class, and winning on the global stage, this merger deserves to be judged by what it actually delivers for workers, consumers, and the economy.

Competition in the modern economy means ensuring that American industries have the scale and integration needed to compete where it matters

Freight rail is one of the last sectors in America that consistently delivers high-quality, middle-class jobs without requiring a four-year degree. Rail workers earn up to 40% more than the national average. These are real careers that actually create things.

Union Pacific has already signed a jobs-for-life agreement with SMART-TD, the nation’s largest railroad union, which has endorsed the deal. The companies’ amended filing also projects that 1,200 net new union jobs will be added by year three of the combined company, on top of those existing protections.

Then there is industrial capacity. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have sought to bolster America’s production capacity. A better-connected freight rail system does a lot to further this goal. It means more goods moving across the country, more demand for domestic production, and steadier employment for the workers who keep that system running.

The consumer case for this merger is straightforward. Rail shipping costs less than trucking, and those savings work their way through the supply chain. The company’s amended Surface Transportation Board application projects $3.5 billion in annual savings for shippers, driven largely by diverting more than 2 million truckloads of long-haul freight to rail.

Critics will say the merger is anti-competitive. That argument misreads the competition. U.S. freight rail does not run in a closed market. This is an end-to-end combination of two railroads that currently operate on opposite sides of the Mississippi.

Combining them would let the new company compete against heavily subsidized trucking and global logistics companies at a scale no individual railroad can match on its own.

Trucking, for example, relies on publicly funded highways, while railroads maintain their own infrastructure at private expense. Meanwhile, China is building integrated national logistics systems designed to dominate global trade flows.

Competition in the modern economy means ensuring that American industries have the scale and integration needed to compete where it matters: across continents and against state-backed rivals.

RELATED: The potential Union Pacific merger risks upsetting America’s rail industry

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A transcontinental rail network strengthens that position by expanding reach, improving efficiency, and connecting American producers to broader markets.

Washington has spent years promising to reshore manufacturing, secure supply chains, and cut dependence on foreign adversaries. Delivering on those promises requires infrastructure that is capable of supporting domestic production at scale.

You cannot rebuild American industry without the ability to move raw materials to factories and finished goods to markets quickly and cheaply. Freight rail is central to that goal. It is more fuel-efficient than trucking and more cost-effective for bulk commodities. Shifting long-haul freight from highway to rail also reduces accidents.

Rail accounts for a fraction of the fatalities and injuries per ton-mile that trucking does, and fewer heavy semis on interstates mean safer roads for everyone.

A stronger rail network is not a threat to workers or to competition. It is what both of those things depend on. Judge this merger by whether it makes the American economy stronger. Judge it by whether working people get something out of it. On both counts, the answer is yes.

Guaranteed union jobs, lower costs for shippers, and a supply chain that finally runs coast to coast on American rails. That is the kind of industrial investment this country keeps saying it wants. Policymakers who care about the future of the country should support it.