US regulator directs Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern to submit additional information for merger

March 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Surface Transportation Board on Wednesday directed Union Pacific UNP.N and Norfolk Southern NSC.N to submit additional information related to their proposed $85 billion merger.

The agency, in a regulatory filing, also noted that the U.S. Department of Justice urged the STB in a letter earlier this month, to seek internal deal and competition analyses to ensure a full assessment of the merger's competitive effects.

• The U.S. transport regulator's directive comes weeks after the railroad operators submitted a notice of intent to the board to file a revised application on April 30.

• The first application was sent back by the board as incomplete in January on grounds of lacking information pertaining to the STB's regulations.

• Earlier in the day, Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena said in an investor conference that "if something comes back to destroy the incremental nature of the merger, we (the company) would walk away from it"

• The merger deal announced in June last year will create the nation's first coast-to-coast freight rail operator and reshape the movement of goods from grains to autos across the U.S.

• The deal has been facing lengthy regulatory scrutiny amid union concerns over potential rate increases, service disruptions and job losses.