Merger Update: CN Settlement, Q2 Earnings Calls + the Importance of Chicago

Talk Track by Telegraph · Jul 26, 2026 · 27m · transcript

Chicago has always been the bottleneck. CN’s decision to no longer oppose the UP-NS merger comes with better Mexico access for CN, terminal ownership, + a few other perks…but UP gains running rights over the all-important former EJ&E, which is conveniently the fastest way around Chicago. Harris + David unpack what that concession reveals: if the merger needed a bypass bolted onto it, perhaps the merger was never actually going to fix the problems in Chicago in the first place.

Also on the table: Q2 earnings, where volumes are up across the board (though Harris argues the story is being…