STB HALTS ALL RAIL MERGERS

The Surface Transportation Board's (STB) 15-month moratorium on railroad mergers has temporarily set aside concerns over the combination of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (BNSF) and Canadian National Railway (CN) and its impact on chemical manufacturers and other shippers (C&EN, March 27, page 11). However, the debate that the merger proposal triggered about competition and possible service disruptions—like those experienced during the Union Pacific (UP) merger and later with the Conrail split-up—may last until only two major rail systems span North America. STB will spend the next 15 months re-examining the dogma that it and its predecessor, the Interstate Commerce Commission, have looked to for guidance since the Staggers Rail Act, the law that deregulated the rail industry, was passed in 1980. Although the fiscal well-being of the railroads has been its top priority over the past two decades, STB may have to rethink its emphasis now that larger, more powerful railroads have outgrown the ...