Norfolk Southern sale to Union Pacific to come with heavy Atlanta job losses

Union Pacific’s Omaha headquarters headcount, on the other hand, will grow to about 3,113 after Norfolk Southern positions are relocated there.

Union Pacific announced plans this summer to acquire Norfolk Southern for about $85 billion and merge the companies into the country’s first transcontinental railroad.

The Atlanta job losses will be phased in over three years, the application states, in part to “leverage natural attrition.”

Of the Atlanta headquarters’ 2,063 management positions, about one-fourth will be relocated to Omaha, and one-fourth will be cut, the application outlines.

Atlanta will be left with just 980 positions in the merged company. If approved by federal regulators, the companies hope to close their transaction by the end of 2027.

However, these numbers do not include the companies’ unionized Atlanta employees, which include at least 270 train dispatchers and several hundred clerical workers. Most of those roles will also ultimately be relocated, the application states.

No Norfolk Southern field employees, who manage the train operations in the field, will lose their jobs or relocate, according to the application.

In an open letter to Georgia, Norfolk Southern CEO Mark George wrote, “Our combined railroad will not abandon Norfolk Southern’s deep roots in the Peach State which date back more than a century.”

“We’re not pulling up track, and in some areas, we’re adding more,” he wrote, citing as an example the Georgia Ports Authority’s Blue Ridge Connector to add 18,000 feet of new track in 2026 and boost container capacity.

“With this merger, Georgia’s role will expand and will serve as an Eastern gateway for a unified rail corridor stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific,” he added, saying that puts Georgia in a central position “at the forefront of a more competitive global economy.”

The companies have vowed to retain all union jobs after the merger. In the application they state “most” of the clerical employees in Atlanta will be relocated to Omaha, but projected a net reduction of 11 clerical positions through attrition.

Norfolk Southern’s 285-strong train dispatcher workforce will also lose 33 positions through attrition, according to the document; remaining jobs will also eventually be relocated.

The two companies said they will maintain separate dispatching centers for an indefinite amount of time to ensure a “safe” and “seamless” transition, but the details in the application prompted the American Train Dispatchers Association to publicly oppose the merger.

The union “remains deeply concerned about these long-term implications, along with the risks they pose to national security, workforce stability, and loss of institutional knowledge,” it wrote in a Friday statement.

“The concern for workforce disruption is particularly acute, given that the 2018 NS train dispatching centralization resulted in nearly a third of all train dispatchers leaving the workforce.”

Many Norfolk Southern employees, including in the unionized workforce, only recently relocated to Atlanta after the company moved its headquarters here just seven years ago.

The company is allowed to sell its gleaming Midtown office building starting next year, according to its incentive agreement with city and state authorities.

George acknowledged in his letter that “many are wondering what this means for our Georgia-based employees and the Atlanta skyline that proudly showcases ‘NS.’”

The companies in their application said the Atlanta headquarters “will continue to serve as a regional operating center with a strong commercial presence and will remain a vital hub for technology and innovation.”

George in his letter said innovations from the company’s Atlanta technology teams have helped improve safety, and there’s a desire to expand that across a nationwide network.

“We have told our Georgia-based railroaders, we will maintain a strong presence in the state. With any major integration of systems, some roles will change over time, and there will be some consolidation; however, thousands of jobs will remain in Georgia and Atlanta,” he wrote.

But the Atlanta job cuts are not the crux of what the Surface Transportation Board is supposed to vet.

The federal body is tasked with deciding whether the proposed deal will “enhance competition” in the railroad marketplace.

In its application the companies repeatedly made their case that while their merger would create the country’s largest railroad company, it will enhance rail’s ability to compete with the trucking industry.

It’s an argument some unions, shippers and politicians have been skeptical about.

Executives estimate the transaction would shift about 2 million truckloads of freight from road to rail annually.

Currently, handing off freight between East and West coast railroad companies can add at least 24-48 hours, Kenny Rocker, sales and marketing executive vice president of Union Pacific, told investors Friday morning.

A merger would eliminate 350 “cross town moves” per day in Chicago, he said.

Only three customers, Rocker said, will go from having two railroad service options to one after the merger.

The application also forecasts the new company will see freight volume growth, specifically 425,000 more carloads annually in merchandise, bulk and automotive goods through six new trains to bridge the East and West.

In his letter, George wrote the merger “opens new doors for Georgia exports” because a transcontinental railroad will make Savannah a more attractive gateway for global commerce.

George in the application wrote the merger is happening from a position of strength for his company. “Let me be clear: this merger is not a ‘Hail Mary’ to save a foundering business,” he said.

“While salvage has been the basis of many a rail combination, we are not entering into this because we must. We do so because it is the right next step to unlock even greater potential for our customers, our employees, and for the United States supply chain as it competes in a worldwide economy.”

But for at least one vocal opponent, Union Pacific’s key Western rail competitor BNSF, the application changes nothing.

BNSF CEO Katie Farmer in a statement Friday wrote: “What we have seen so far does not change BNSF’s opposition to the proposed merger. The transaction poses a significant threat to the U.S. economy and the American consumer through its long-term competitive harms.”

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include details about projected job cuts among Norfolk Southern’s unionized employees.