Union Pacific, Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern railroads discuss merger, AP source says

A Norfolk Southern freight train passes through Homestead, Pa., March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Union Pacific and Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern are in merger talks to create the largest railroad in North America that would connect the East and West Coasts.

The merger discussions began during the first quarter of this year, according to a person familiar with the talks who isn’t authorized to discuss them publicly. It would combine the largest and smallest of the country’s six major freight railroads.

Both railroads declined to comment.