Shippers Ask STB for Help

WASHINGTON — Captive rail shippers pleaded with the Surface Transportation Board last week to “restore and enhance” competition in the Houston and Gulf Coast areas by granting other railroads access to Union Pacific lines and allowing some customers to build links to other carriers.

Houston was ground zero in last year’s service meltdown by the Union Pacific Railroad following its takeover of the struggling Southern Pacific Railroad.

Texas-based shippers bore the brunt of the service breakdown, absorbing an estimated $1.5 billion in extra costs for lost production and higher prices paid for truck transportation, according to Jerry Martin of the Texas Railroad Commission.

At a public hearing Dec. 15, representatives of the Chemical Manufacturers Association, the Texas Mexican Railway Co. and the Texas Railroad Commission urged the STB to adopt a “consensus plan” that would impose conditions, such as a neutral dispatch center, on UP to help move trains in and around the Houston area.

For the full story, see the Dec. 21 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.