Michael O’Rielly was a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission from 2013 to 2020.
Americans depend on our national rail network in much the same way we depend on wireless networks: to connect communities and keep our economy running. But the two sectors have very different footprints on the map, leading to very different outcomes — and it is time railroads get the chance to catch up with the wireless marketplace.
Over the past decades, private investment has transformed U.S. wireless networks into a largely seamless, nationwide system. Freight rail, by contrast, which is a similarly vast network spanning time zones, terrains and communities, still relies on an inefficiently fragmented set of providers.
While a wireless customer can travel from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles without losing service, a freight rail customer cannot move goods coast to coast without navigating a complex logistical maze. Shipments often must be handed off between competing companies, introducing costly delays and uncertainty that ripple through the supply chain — and at times put cargo at risk.
The stakes go beyond efficiency. In recent years, supply-chain disruptions have exposed the freight system’s vulnerability to delays and chokepoints. From pandemic-era backlogs to extreme weather events, disruptions — even minor ones — can cascade across industries.
A more integrated rail network would probably provide greater redundancy and flexibility, enable goods to move more quickly through bottlenecks and help stabilize delivery timelines for manufacturers, retailers and consumers.
The proposed merger of two of the country’s four largest freight carriers, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, looks to be a major step in the right direction. Union Pacific operates more than 32,000 route miles of track, most of it west of the Mississippi River; Norfolk Southern’s 19,000 route miles of track mostly serves the more densely populated third of the country east of the Mississippi. By linking their footprints, the merger would create the nation’s first truly transcontinental freight rail system, offering single-line service from coast to coast.
Unifying our country’s rail network could streamline transportation, alleviate bottlenecks and reduce costs for businesses and consumers. Analysts project the merger could shave up to two days off coast-to-coast transit times by eliminating interchange stops and giving shippers direct single-line access to markets currently unreachable without multiple handoffs. That is a competitive advantage for rail against more dominant — and less energy-efficient — modes of shipping like trucking, an advantage that no regulatory mandate could replicate. The New York Times reported last year that a single unified rail network could reduce costs by 10 to 40 percent. A merged company would also be well positioned to resolve ongoing policy issues, such as fees or approval for broadband providers to lay cable beneath railroad tracks at key locations.
It would also make shipping more secure. Freight theft has increased dramatically in recent years, and preliminary data shows that rail freight theft alone was up 50 percent in 2025, with major railroads reporting 75,000 incidents resulting in losses of more than $200 million. By reducing the need to off-load and reload cargo, a continuous network would help ensure products reach their destinations safely and efficiently.
Critics of consolidation often raise concerns about competition, but consolidation does not automatically lead to worse outcomes. The wireless industry evolved from dozens of regional carriers into a handful of nationwide providers. Yet prices have declined while speeds and service quality have improved. The lesson is not that fewer firms are always better, but that structure should be judged by whether consumers and businesses are better served.
Just as America’s investment in wireless created jobs, so would the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern combination. The companies have committed to protecting every existing union job “for life” and expect to create another1,200 jobs within three years of the deal’s execution.
The federal Surface Transportation Board recently accepted Union Pacific’s merger application, kicking off a regulatory process aimed at determining whether the merger serves the public interest. Regulators should also should also consider the competitive global landscape. Other countries, including Canada and Brazil, have invested heavily in modern, unified freight systems that move goods faster and more efficiently. If America wants to remain competitive in manufacturing, agriculture and exports, it cannot rely on an outdated, disjointed rail structure.
When I served on the Federal Communications Commission and in previous years as congressional staff, I worked to expand and strengthen our nation’s wireless services. That included overseeing the wireless industry as it consolidated from a mixture of carriers into the current environment of three nationwide networks — AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile — as well as cable wireless offerings and several dozen independent providers.
There is no magic number of competitors that guarantees good outcomes for consumers. What matters is whether the market delivers. America has an opportunity to establish an integrated, coast-to-coast rail network that will deliver for our citizens. Regulators should recognize the value of a truly national system, as those in other sectors have, and approve the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger.
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