CP & CSX to Merge?

[MrFSS]

The Canadian Pacific Railway recently approached CSX, the big Florida-based rail line, about a merger that would create a company worth more than $60 billion, people briefed on the matter said on Sunday.

While the two companies have begun to discuss the possibility of a transaction, CSX was cool to the idea, and it is too early to tell whether they will pursue one, these people said.

If completed, a deal would unite two of the biggest railroad operators at a time when rail traffic in North America is soaring because of the energy boom, snarling Amtrak traffic and tying up other freight.

FULL STORY

 

[Ryan]

I was just reading the same thing.


The first obvious question here would be "What would such a merger (and the inevitable follow on mergers that would likely happen) mean for Amtrak?" Would it be easier for them two deal with 2 or 3 mega-RR's?

(I think you have a typo in your title. )

 

[amtkstn]

Back in 1999 CN & BNSF tried the same thing. It was turned down and the STB placed a 15 month block on mergers.

 

[afigg]

According to Railway Age, CSX has turned the CP offer down: CSX rejects CP merger proposal. Of course, this may only be the opening gambit by CSX to play hard to get.

As for the effect on Amtrak, it already has to deal with only a small number of Class 1 railroads and a few Class 2s and one class 3. Going to 2 or 3 even bigger railroads won't change the costs of dealing with them or monitoring the trackage access contracts. But it would mean that if one of the "mega" railroads wanted to make Amtrak's life even more difficult, as Amtrak would have less leverage from a political standpoint.