Two giant corporations are in talks for a merger that could change rail transportation in the U.S. and create an unprecedented stranglehold on the industry. Union Pacific is working with Norfolk Southern to combine into one company. If the deal comes to fruition, it will produce one of the largest brands in the country, but industry leaders are worried this could also come with drawbacks. 

What would the deal mean?
A merger would "create a sprawling rail network that spans the continent from coast to coast — something no single railroad operator's network currently does," said The Wall Street Journal. The companies would also combine for significant value: Union Pacific is worth $138.2 billion, while Norfolk Southern is valued at $63 billion, according to London Stock Exchange data.

The singular transcontinental railroad would have nearly 90,000 miles of track. It would "provide major benefits, including eliminating the need for redundant interchanges of cross-country freight and enhancing efficiency," said Stephanie Moore, an analyst at investment bank Jefferies, to Bloomberg. Merging the companies could "recapture market share from trucking and potentially reinvigorate a subsector that has faced stagnant or declining volumes the past two decades." 

What are the monopoly issues?
A merged rail conglomerate would also "reduce competition in an already concentrated industry," said The New York Times. Railway customers, primarily those in the coal, chemicals, manufacturing, and shipping container industries, like to "play railroads against one another to get better rates." With a merger, that bargaining "might become harder."

Mergers in the rail industry have been "difficult to consummate given the inhospitable regulatory environment" and concern over a monopoly, said Bloomberg. But the Trump administration could take things in a different direction, and President Donald Trump is seen as a "proponent of industry consolidation" and deregulation. Others say the rail companies "do not need to merge to improve connections between eastern and western networks," said the Times. 

If the companies do decide to come together, there is a high bar they must clear, as "any major rail merger must show it will enhance competition and serve the public interest" under regulatory rules set up in 2001, said The Associated Press. Given this, there's "widespread debate over whether such a merger would be approved."

Marine biologists are sounding warning bells over an alarming trend in the San Francisco Bay Area: Whales are dying at an unprecedented level in the city's waters. While the marine mammals have always died in the San Francisco Bay Area, the number of deaths has reached a fever point, with 2025 already seeing more dead whales than any year in the past quarter century. 

'Unusually high number' 
At least 24 dead whales have been discovered in the waters near San Francisco this year, according to the California Academy of Sciences. This is the highest number seen in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2000. One notable incident occurred this past May when five whales were "found dead in just one week," said CBS News.

There has also been an "unusually high number" of whale sightings this year in the Bay Area, with "more than 30 individual gray whales confirmed via photo identification," said the California Academy of Sciences. In comparison, only "six gray whales were sighted in the bay" in all of 2024.

'If you see a blow, go slow'
Many of these whales have been killed by boat strikes as the whales were migrating, scientists say. Gray whales, in particular, migrate through the region to reach Arctic feeding waters. Last year's increase in migrating whales suggests they are becoming more prevalent and therefore harder for boaters to avoid. 

Scientists have cautioned that it's "vital that all boaters, from large commercial vessels to sailboats, be whale-aware. If you see a blow, go slow," said Kathi George, the director of cetacean conservation biology at the Marine Mammal Center, in a statement. But while at least "eight of the gray whales were probably killed by vessel strikes," the cause of death for the others was "uncertain," said The Independent.

Many are concerned that continued deaths could lead to heightened problems for scientists, who attempt to use the cetaceans to study food supply levels and ocean climate trends. There are "signs of concern for this population as it moves forward into the future," George said to ABC News.