Union Pacific and Norfolk seek 1st transcontinental railroad through a massive merger
Source: AP
By JOSH FUNK
Updated 9:08 AM CDT, July 29, 2025
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) Union Pacific wants to buy Norfolk Southern in a $85 billion deal that would create the first transcontinental railroad in the U.S, and potentially trigger a final wave of rail mergers across the country.
The proposed merger, announced Tuesday, would marry Union Pacifics vast rail network in the West with Norfolks rails that snake across 22 Eastern states, and the District of Columbia.
The nation was first linked by rail in 1869, when a golden railroad spike was driven in Utah to symbolize the connection of East and West Coasts. Yet no single entity has controlled that coast-to-coast passage.
The railroads argue a merger would streamline deliveries of raw materials and goods nationwide by eliminating delays when shipments are handed off between railroads. The AP first reported the merger talks earlier this month a week before the railroads confirmed the discussions last week.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/union-pacific-norfolk-southern-transcontinental-railroad-merger-b15664ec5cc55b985a0a32a1bf990d41

multigraincracker
(36,041 posts)The end of competition.
moniss
(7,758 posts)availability would not be a good thing.
bucolic_frolic
(51,626 posts)Like the old Ma Bell. Remove the regulation and you have prices through the roof. Extend or grant the monopoly and it's even worse.
But of course we don't regulate anything anymore.
AllaN01Bear
(26,694 posts)Gore1FL
(22,562 posts)I assume BNSF will make an offer to drive the price up.