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Civitas Outlook
Topic
Economic Dynamism
Published on
Jun 22, 2026
Contributors
Michael Toth
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Rail Merger is American Supply Chain Game-Changer

Contributors
Michael Toth
Michael Toth
Research Director
Michael Toth
Summary
An economy cannot remain dynamic if its infrastructure is trapped in the past.

Summary
An economy cannot remain dynamic if its infrastructure is trapped in the past.

Listen to this article

Most Americans associate innovation with new technologies. But modernization is equally important in the industries that move goods, power factories, and connect markets. An economy cannot remain dynamic if its infrastructure is trapped in the past.

That reality is at the center of a consequential decision now facing federal regulators: whether to approve the nation’s first transcontinental freight railroad.

Announced last summer, the $71 billion merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern would create a single rail network spanning 50,000 route miles, connecting 43 states and more than 100 ports.

Read the full article on the Washington Examiner.

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