The Federal Railroad Administration on Feb. 26, 2016 launched a new tool on its website that allows states and municipalities to request inspection reports for railroad bridges in their communities. FRA’s announcement of the website came with allegations leveled at the railroads that the industry says are essentially bogus.
Boston to Washington, D.C. It’s a megalopolis of technology innovators, prestigious universities, corporate headquarters, a global financial hub, a score of professional sports teams, tourist attractions, Congress and a maze of executive branch and independent regulatory agencies—a region of 56 million whose productivity and quality of life depend significantly on efficient intercity transportation.
As the rail industry suffers through the 2015-2016 winter of its discontent, it is becoming clearer with each passing week that as an industry we are entering uncharted territory. Former mainstay coal is in long-term decline, removing the largest pillar under the rail industry and creating a giant volume hole for the industry to fill.
Former late-night talk show host David Letterman often said, “I wouldn’t give those troubles to a monkey on a rock.” Tag, you’re it, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
You remember this from not so long ago, don’t you?: “In much of Asia and Europe, engineers are protected by a technology known as positive train control or PTC.”
News item: Canadian Pacific (CP) is pursuing a hostile takeover of Norfolk Southern (NS). CP is asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether NS and other U.S.-based major railroads—some of which oppose the takeover—are unlawfully conspiring for “the primary purpose of restraining trade.” CP says “fear of competition does not justify the collective action of competitors.” Yet the Supreme Court long ago ruled that “joint efforts to influence public officials, such as railroad regulators, do not violate the antitrust laws even though intended to eliminate competition.”
Everything is out in the open, as it should be. Today (January 8, 2016), the Surface Transportation Board established a page on its website, “Major Railroad Mergers and Consolidations Correspondence,” that contains all the correspondence connected to the proposed merger of Canadian Pacific and Norfolk Southern. The correspondence is in PDF form and can be downloaded by anyone.
On January 5, 2016, Reuters published a story containing excerpts of letters reportedly sent to the Surface Transportation Board by industry groups representing several major Norfolk Southern freight customers. The letters ask the STB to reject a merger of Canadian Pacific and NS, should a merger application be filed. We contacted the STB for copies of those letters and came up empty.
The critical takeaway from enactment in December of the Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act, S.808, is that, absent headline-capturing abuse of captive shippers by railroads, it is unlikely Congress will refocus anytime soon on diluting railroad market power.
Santa Claus doesn’t rest on Christmas Eve. Neither, apparently, does Canadian Pacific. Santa does rest on Christmas Day, but the Class I railroad whose headquarters is, of all its contemporaries (with the exception of the Alaska Railroad), closest to Kris Kringle’s North Pole residence and workshop has chosen not to follow his lead.