Senator Marshall Joins Bipartisan Letter to the Surface Transportation Board Raising Concerns for the Union Pacific & Norfolk Southern Railroad Merger

Washington – On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), joined a bipartisan letter led by Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) to the Surface Transportation Board, raising concern for the announced merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern railroads, urging the board to carefully review the matter.

This significant consolidation could reshape the U.S. freight rail industry and supply chain, potentially driving up costs for consumers, worsening service for producers, and depleting competition in an already diminished market.

In their letter to the Surface Transportation Board, the Senators wrote:

“Since the 1950s, the rail industry has consolidated from over 100 Class I freight railroads to only six today. A long trend of industry consolidation has dramatically increased the power of railroads over shippers in the last few decades — leaving four carriers to provide nearly 90 percent of the nation’s freight rail transportation. In recent years, we have heard from too many U.S. manufacturers, utility companies, agricultural producers, and small businesses experiencing service and reliability problems while paying excessive rates. The railroad industry has proven to be more concerned with increasing their rates and profits rather than improving their service.”

“A major rail merger has the potential to trigger additional industry consolidation. We are encouraged that the STB shared this concern in the context of the 2001 rulemaking process, in which the STB set new rules governing major railroad mergers and started requiring Class I railroads to prove that mergers would both enhance competition and are in the public interest. We strongly encourage the STB to keep this at the forefront of considerations.”

Click HERE to read the full letter.

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Contact: Payton Fuller