The merger would create the United States’ first coast-to-coast rail network, spanning 50,000 miles and 43 states.

Proposed deal would marry Union Pacific’s vast rail network in the West with Norfolk’s rails across 22 Eastern states and the District of Columbia

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.