STB Proposes Tougher Rail Merger Rules

The Surface Transportation Board has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that toughens the rules for Class I railroads seeking to merge.

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The board said that its regulatory proposal represents a “major shift in basis from the pro-merger approach that has guided agency merger decisions for the last 20 years.”

The board noted that with only a handful of major railroads remaining, “any further merger proposals could trigger other applications that the board would have to consider.”

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A Class I railroad has annual revenues of at least $250 million. At this point, the only Class I railroads in the United States are Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, CSX Transportation, Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Kansas City Southern.

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