What happens when railroads get hitched

Two freight-rail giants could make history if their $85 billion merger gets approved. Union Pacific’s proposed marriage with Norfolk Southern would create the first coast-to-coast rail network. So why hasn’t it happened before now? Today on the show, the business of train mergers.  <br /><br /><strong>Related episodes: </strong><br /><a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/08/16/1194301913/how-yellow-up-wound-up-in-the-red" target="_blank">How Yellow wound up in the red</a> <br /><br /><em>For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at </em><a href="http://plus.npr.org/" target="_blank">plus.npr.org</a><em>.  </em><br /><br /><em>Fact-checking by </em><a href="https://www.npr.org/people/g-s1-26724/sierra-juarez" target="_blank"><em>Sierra Juarez</em></a><em>. Music by </em><a href="https://dropelectric.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank"><em>Drop Electric</em></a><em>. Find us: </em><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@planetmoney" target="_blank"><em>TikTok</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://www.instagram.com/planetmoney/" target="_blank"><em>Instagram</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/planetmoney" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://www.npr.org/newsletter/money" target="_blank"><em>Newsletter</em></a><em>.  </em><br /><br />See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>