Norfolk Southern flies to Washington the week it refiles its Union Pacific merger

Norfolk Southern flew from its home base near Atlanta to Washington Dulles International Airport on May 14, a 74-minute hop aboard its Challenger 605, tail N157NS. The flight arrived at 10:14 a.m. local time.

The same week, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific are “on track” to refile their merger application with the Surface Transportation Board, per an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report. The companies aim to submit the application by the end of April, according to Norfolk Southern CEO Mark George, who told investors the deal would create a true transcontinental railroad and convert 1.3 million truckloads to rail. The trip to Washington suggests meetings with regulators or advisors as the filing deadline approaches.

The Dulles stop fits a pattern: Norfolk Southern’s Challenger has visited the Washington area at least four times in the past two weeks, including flights from Chicago, upstate New York, and Bismarck, North Dakota. The railroad’s CEO has been making the case for the merger at industry events, telling the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association in April that the deal would break the “artificial boundary” that has held back rail growth since 2000.