NITL opposes more railroad consolidation

“NITL has consistently been on the record as opposing further consolidation in the freight rail industry,” stated NITL’s Executive Director Nancy O’Liddy. “As a result of prior mergers, rail competition has been drastically reduced and many NITL members have facilities that are captive to only a single railroad. Despite past promises that rail customers would benefit from mergers through more efficient service, today captive rail customers pay increasingly higher prices for unreliable and inadequate service,” added O’Liddy.

The second merger application by Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) must be denied by the Surface Transportation Board (STB) unless the applicants can transparently demonstrate how the combined railroads will enhance competition and that the benefits of the merger outweigh its harms. O’Liddy added that, “for captive shippers, this means increased rail-to-rail competition, not only competition between rail and trucking.” This is critically important because a transcontinental rail merger will result in a single mega-railroad with enormous market share and power from coast to coast.

NITL welcomed the steps the STB took earlier this year to require UP-NS to provide more information and data to better document the expected impact of the merger on competition, service, other railroads, and more. NITL will be carefully evaluating the likely impacts on rail customers to determine whether this merger can serve the public interest and enhance rail-to-rail competition given its broad scope and downstream effects. Freight rail shippers must benefit from guaranteed, long-term improved competitive service—not just empty promises,” concluded O’Liddy.