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By merging with Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific wants to create a coast-to-coast railroad to carry nearly half of all U.S. rail freight.

Union Pacific says the $85 billion merger would serve the public interest and win federal approval by unclogging Chicago , the cradle of American railroading and still its biggest and most notorious bottleneck.

But the “increased monopolistic power” of the combined railroad will drive up shipping costs and could kneecap America’s global competitiveness, according to nine Republican attorneys general in a letter last month.

Shipping costs are already a pocketbook issue for everyday Chicagoans. Americans received 66 packages on average in 2024, a 78% increase over seven years, according to

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