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

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Union Pacific is seeking 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 rail network in the West with Norfolk’s rails that snake across Eastern states.

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.