South Carolina has spent decades building an economy around manufacturing, trade and its ability to move goods efficiently. From the Port of Charleston to the manufacturing corridor along Interstate 85, much of the state’s continued economic growth depends on getting products to customers and raw materials to businesses quickly and reliably.
A proposed merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern could give South Carolina businesses something the American freight rail system has never offered before: a single railroad connecting markets from the East Coast to the West Coast.
Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern are seeking approval from the federal Surface Transportation Board to combine their respective rail networks and create what the companies describe as America’s first single-line transcontinental railroad…