LINCOLN - The proposed $85 billion merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern has lost the support of two unions that represent more than half their railroad workers over concerns it will jeopardize safety and jobs, raise shipping rates and consumer prices, and cause significant disruptions.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division are among the most prominent critics of the deal to create the nation's first transcontinental railroad. They join the American Chemistry Council, an assortment of agricultural groups and competing railroad BNSF in raising concerns the merger would hurt competition.

The deal has the support of the nation's largest rail union, which represents conductors and hundreds of individual shippers, and President Donald Trump has said the deal sounds good to him. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board will weigh the opinions of all stakeholders to determine whether the merger is in the public interest once the railroads file their formal application, which is expected later this week.

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