Section: Take Action
Your experience is evidence. Put it on the record.
The STB is required to weigh community impacts. It can only weigh what reaches the docket. The deadline for public comments is November 18, 2026. Here are three ways to help, starting with the easiest.
1. Sign the resident statement
The quickest way onto the record. Read a short statement, add what you have lived through at the crossings near you, and sign on your phone. Organizers file the signed statements with the STB under Docket FD 36873. Available in English and Spanish. Get yours in well before November 18 so it can be filed on time.
Sign the statement2. File your own comment with the STB
Anyone can file. You do not need a lawyer. Reference Docket No. FD 36873, say who you are and where you live, and describe how rail operations affect you. Specifics beat slogans: dates, streets, durations, what it cost you. Ask for what you want, whether that is denial of the merger or binding mitigation.
File at stb.gov3. Show up for the hearing
The Board has said it will hold a public hearing after March 29, 2027, and will set the date and place in a later decision. Houston officials have formally asked for a hearing here, in evening or weekend hours. During the last big merger, the only regional hearing happened in Beaumont on a weekday. If Houston gets a hearing, packed rooms matter.
Get updatesWhat happens to my statement after I sign?
Your signed statement goes to the organizers, who compile statements and file them with the Surface Transportation Board. Your name, address, and statement will appear on the public docket, the same as any filing. Your email and phone number stay private and are used only by organizers to follow up. The form also lets you say whether you would speak at a hearing or with reporters.
FD 36873 resident statement page, lindsaywil4.github.io/stb-statement.Not ready to sign? Share your train story instead
Missed a shift because of a stopped train? Watched kids climb through railcars? Waited behind a blocked crossing with an ambulance? Tell us what happened. Organizers collect resident stories and can follow up with you about adding yours to the record.
What makes a comment effective
A simple structure that works
Who you are. Name, neighborhood, and your connection to the rail corridor. "I live two blocks from the Eastwood Street crossing" carries weight.
What you experience. Concrete incidents with dates and durations. The FRA data shows the pattern; your story makes it real.
What you are asking for. Examples officials have already requested: a Houston public hearing, a full system impact study including secondary lines, environmental review of the East End crossings and Settegast truck routes, grade separation funding, quiet zones, and enforceable limits on train length and idling in residential areas.
Requests drawn from City of Houston comment, Oct. 13, 2025, and Commissioner Adrian Garcia comment (filing 310429).Also worth doing: report every blocked crossing
Report blockages to the FRA portal at fra.dot.gov/blockedcrossings every time they happen. The crossing ID is posted on the blue sign at each crossing. This data built the national record that now anchors Houston's case. Underreporting shrinks the record; consistent reporting grows it.
Watch for the environmental scoping period
The environmental review runs on its own track. Its preliminary consultation closed September 21, 2026. Formal scoping opens when the Board's Office of Environmental Analysis publishes a Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement, followed by a comment period and public meetings. No date is set yet. That window decides which crossings and truck routes get studied, so it matters as much as the November deadline. Check the EIS website or this page for the announcement.
STB UP-NS Environmental Review website (accessed Oct. 1, 2026); OEA preliminary consultation letters EO-4115–4117 (Aug. 19, 2026).For organizations and elected officials
The deadline to become a party of record passed on September 30, 2026. Anyone can still file comments, protests, and requests for conditions by November 18, 2026. Parties of record can also take part in the February 2027 response round and the final briefs. If your organization signed a pre-application support letter without board review, you can file a comment clarifying or withdrawing your position. A Houston shipper and an Ohio Senate leader have already done so.
STB procedural schedule decision, Aug. 18, 2026, as extended Aug. 31, 2026; STB filings 310831, 312103, Docket FD 36873.One last thing. This process runs on months and years, and railroads count on public attention fading. It faded in 1996, and Houston paid for it. Sign the statement, tell a neighbor, and when the hearing date comes, bring them with you.