Railroad Mergers

Archive Report

New Wave of Rail Consolidation Plans

Acceleration of Railroad Merger Movement

American railroads, harder pressed than ever by the competition of highway, air and water carriers, are showing unprecedented interest in the possibility of bettering their condition by reducing competition among themselves. Some two dozen Class I carriers, operating more than half the railroad mileage in the country, have projected or are studying plans to combine into larger, stronger, and more viable systems.

Merger or consolidation of railroads1 has been common in American transportation history. In fact, most of today's rail systems were built up by joining together numerous short-line roads. The Association of American Railroads pointed out, July 29, that at one time there were as many as 6,000 railroads in the United States. by the ...

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