News

Class A shares of Berkshire Hathaway, owner of BNSF Railway, reversed earlier gains on Thursday after a federal regulator pushed pause on its review of the blockbuster merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern. BNSF, which competes with Union Pacific in the Western U.S., has previously said that the proposed merger will "concentrate too much control of the nation's freight market with one railroad leading to long-term harm to competition and resilience in the nation's supply chain." "BNSF remains firmly opposed to the proposed UP–NS merger," the Berkshire-owned railroad said in a statement on Thursday.

Shares of freight railroads Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern dropped sharply Thursday, after a federal regulator paused the review process for their merger, stating it needed more details to evaluate the transaction. Union Pacific fell 3.5%, and Norfolk Southern is down 5%. While the Surface Transportation Board said it accepted the revised merger application that the two railroads filed in April, it froze the review and will establish another schedule for the remainder of the process.