Merger could create first coast-to-coast US freight railroad

Bloomberg/Getty ImagesTwo of America's largest railroad companies are set to combine in an $85bn (£63.8bn) deal that would create the first firm with a coast-to-coast freight rail network in the US. Union Pacific said it had agreed to buy its smaller East Coast rival Norfolk Southern, establishing a $250bn colossus that will link 100 ports and 43 states along more than 50,000 miles of track. Executives said they…