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Joshua Scheer
At a moment when global instability is already rippling through supply chains, economies, and political systems, a quiet but potentially devastating shift is unfolding inside the backbone of the U.S. economy: its rail system. What may appear on the surface as a routine corporate merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern is, in reality, a flashpoint—one that intersects with war, inflation, labor struggle, environmental crisis, and the growing fragility of everyday life.
The discussion, emerging from Clearing the Fog, situates this proposed rail mega-merger not as an isolated business decision, but as part of a much larger pattern of consolidation, extraction, and systemic failure.
The timing alone is telling. As U.S.-Israeli aggression toward Iran escalates, global economic consequences are already cascading. Oil prices are surging. Fertilizer shortages—driven in part by geopolitical tensions and supply restrictions—are threatening agricultural output. Inflation is accelerating at a pace not seen in decades, with consumer confidence collapsing to historic lows. Basic necessities—fuel, food, housing—are becoming increasingly unaffordable.
And into this already volatile environment steps a proposal that would further consolidate control over one of the most critical logistical systems in the country.
The railroads are not just another industry. They are the circulatory system of the economy—moving grain, fuel, industrial materials, and consumer goods across vast distances. When they fail, everything downstream feels it. Prices rise. Shortages deepen. Entire sectors destabilize.
Ron Kaminko, a founding member of Railroad Workers United, makes clear that what is being proposed is not simply a merger, but a continuation of a decades-long trend toward monopoly power. Where there were once dozens of major rail carriers, consolidation has reduced that number to just a handful. If this merger proceeds, the industry could effectively collapse into a duopoly—two massive systems controlling nearly all rail freight in the United States.
History offers a stark warning. Previous mega-mergers in the 1990s resulted in catastrophic service breakdowns—what workers describe as total system “meltdowns.” Freight stalled. Terminals clogged. Delays became routine. Some businesses were forced to shut down entirely because goods simply could not move.
And yet, despite these failures, the push for consolidation continues—driven not by efficiency or public need, but by profitability.
Today’s rail industry is, by its own metrics, extraordinarily successful. It has generated hundreds of billions in profits over the past decade. But that success tells a deeper, more troubling story. While profits soar, actual freight movement has declined. The system is moving less, doing less, serving fewer needs—while extracting more wealth.
This is not efficiency. It is extraction.
The model is simple: cut labor, reduce maintenance, shrink service, and increase prices. Precision Scheduled Railroading—an industry strategy—has meant longer trains, fewer workers, and reduced operational flexibility. Infrastructure investment has stagnated, even as demands on the system grow. The result is a brittle network—one that appears profitable on paper but is increasingly incapable of meeting real-world needs.
For workers, the consequences are immediate: staffing shortages, unsafe conditions, exhaustion, and declining job security. For shippers, it means unreliable service and rising costs. For passengers—particularly Amtrak—it has meant chronic delays and deteriorating performance.
And for the public, it means something even more profound: vulnerability.
Because when a system like this breaks under pressure—as it has before—the effects are not contained. They spread. Food prices rise as grain shipments falter. Energy costs spike as fuel distribution slows. Supply chains fracture. What begins as a corporate restructuring quickly becomes a national crisis.
This is why opposition to the merger is so broad—and so unusual. Agricultural groups, shipping organizations, passenger rail advocates, and even politically conservative coalitions have all raised alarms. The concern cuts across ideological lines because the stakes are not abstract. They are material, immediate, and shared.
And yet, despite this opposition, the momentum behind consolidation remains strong—buoyed by political support and a regulatory environment that has historically struggled to enforce meaningful constraints.
What emerges from this moment is not just a debate about rail policy, but a window into a deeper contradiction at the heart of the American system.
At a time when climate change demands a shift toward more efficient, lower-emission transportation, rail should be central to the solution. Electrified, modernized rail networks could move massive amounts of freight and passengers with far less environmental impact than trucking or air travel. Other countries are already moving in this direction, investing in electrification and high-capacity infrastructure.
The United States is not.
Instead, it is doubling down on a model that prioritizes short-term profit over long-term sustainability—shrinking capacity while demand grows, consolidating power while resilience declines.
The result is a system that is simultaneously powerful and fragile. Profitable and dysfunctional. Dominant and failing.
And as economic pressures mount—from war, from inflation, from global instability—the risks of that contradiction become impossible to ignore.
The proposed Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger is not just another corporate deal. It is a stress test. A signal. A warning.
Because when critical infrastructure is treated not as a public good but as a vehicle for extraction, the consequences do not stay contained within boardrooms or balance sheets. They spill outward—into communities, into markets, into daily life.
And once those systems begin to fail, they do not fail quietly.
They fail all at once.
Clearing the Fog is a weekly political podcast and radio program hosted by Margaret Flowers that focuses on exposing the structures of power shaping economic, social, and geopolitical realities. Produced as part of Popular Resistance, the show brings together activists, organizers, and subject-matter experts to unpack issues often overlooked or misrepresented in mainstream media—from labor struggles and corporate consolidation to war, public health, and systemic inequality. With an emphasis on grassroots movements and critical analysis, Clearing the Fog aims to connect the dots between policy decisions and their real-world impacts, helping listeners better understand—and challenge—the forces driving injustice.
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