Union Pacific $UNP and Norfolk Southern $NSC asked regulators Thursday to approve an $85 billion deal that would establish the nation's first transcontinental freight railroad.

The companies said their amended merger application filed with the Surface Transportation Board responds to STB feedback after the board rejected their original December 2025 application as incomplete. The updated analysis is the first in rail merger history to use complete traffic data from all six North American Class I railroads, rather than sample data, the companies said.

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The amended application projects the combined railroad would take about 2.1 million trucks off the road by shifting freight to rail, saving shippers an estimated $3.5 billion annually. Shippers would benefit from an estimated $3.5 billion in annual savings under the proposal, with the companies arguing those gains would ultimately be reflected in what consumers pay.

Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena said in a statement: "After completing the additional work requested by the STB, the facts remain clear: This merger enhances competition and delivers real public benefits that make America's supply chain stronger."

The revised filing increases the number of new premium intermodal lanes operating seven days a week from six to seven, adding a lane connecting Northern California and the Southeast. The companies also raised their estimate of net new union jobs needed by the third year of the merger from 900 to 1,200, and committed to a jobs-for-life guarantee for all union employees at the time of the merger.

Norfolk Southern President and CEO Mark George said in a statement that the combination would "deliver seamless freight moves within and across the Mississippi watershed markets with one Class I railroad accountable from origin to destination."

The amended application also addresses the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis, a Class III railroad in which Union Pacific holds a 42.84% stake and Norfolk Southern holds 14.29%. The companies committed to divest or otherwise relinquish control of TRRA as a condition of closing, rather than seeking a temporary controlling interest as originally requested.

According to the STB, the board rejected the original December 2025 application in January 2026, finding it incomplete under the agency's regulations. That decision, the board noted, was not an indication of how it might ultimately assess a revised application.

The two companies said they expect the transaction to close in the first half of 2027, subject to STB review and approval.