Union Pacific and Norfolk seek 1st transcontinental railroad through a massive merger

Associated Press ^ | 12:56 PM EDT, July 29, 2025 | Josh Funk

[Olog-hai]

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 Pacific’s vast rail network in the West with Norfolk’s rails that snake across the Eastern United States. The combined railroad would include more than 50,000 miles of track in 43 states with connections to major ports on both coasts.

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 nation’s largest rail union, SMART-TD, quickly opposed the merger over concerns of jeopardizing progress that Norfolk Southern has made in safety and labor relations since its disastrous 2023 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. The union said that Union Pacific’s record is troubling on safety, and treatment of workers. …

[Alberta's Child]

It's interesting that Daly would believe that.

Chicago became a major Midwestern city primarily because it was a rail hub where different railroads connected.

[libstripper]

The problem was the railroads didn’t really connect. Instead they had separate stations and it was necessary to travel between stations to make some connections. That was a pet peeve of Mayor Daley’s.