Comment EI-34298
Received or sent (printed as 9/6/2026)
9/6/26 To: Surface Transportation Board Attn: Danielle Gosselin, Director of Environmental Analysis Ms. Gosselin, I understand that your office has invited interested persons to express issues and concerns regarding the proposed acquisition of Norfolk Southern Railway by Union Pacific Railway. I write to express 2 such concerns relating to NS’s bridge over PA Route 309, just south of Pennsylvania Avenue in Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania: Graffiti and Safety. Beginning in 2010, I and many others, including governmental officials, have asked N&S to clean up the graffiti on its bridge, and to install appropriate barriers to prevent people from accessing the bridge over the busy highway. NS has consistently refused to do so. NS’s Legal Department informed me and such officials that as it is federally regulated, no state or local authority could compel it to take any action. In the years since 2010, we sought intervention and assistance from then-Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz, then-Senator Bob Casey and then-Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. None were able to persuade NS to act responsibly. At one point, NS offered to provide paint and flagmen needed to paint over the graffiti on the bridge, but said that the local municipality would need to supply everything else, included but not limited to labor, permits, equipment, etc. NS also offered to allow a fence to be attached to the top of the bridge to hinder trespassing, but to be installed by the local municipality at its (taxpayers') expense. Over the years, the graffiti has persisted and gotten worse. Graffiti “artists” continue to access the bride, posing great danger to themselves and to motorists below. I ask that in your role relating to this merger application, you require NS to resolve these issues. Sincerely, Steven Stone 1506 N. Fiedler Road Maple Glen, PA 19002 sstone1111@gmail.com 215-643-5920
Submitted by: Steven Stone · AMBLER, PA
The Board publishes this comment in its environmental-comment table for this proceeding. It is quoted here as printed; nothing is inferred from it, and it states the commenter's own position in their own words, not this record's.
Permanent address docketyard.org/d/FD-36873/comment/EI-34298 · back to the docket sheet