(Radio Iowa) – As federal regulators consider the proposed merger of two major railroads, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says it may -not- be in the best interests of America’s farmers to have Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern join forces. “I would expect the Surface Transportation Board to consider issues like competition,” Grassley says. “Obviously, being an agricultural state, we want to make sure that there’s no service impact. I know the environment needs some consideration.”
The 85-billion dollar merger would create America’s first coast-to-coast transcontinental railroad. Reports say the combined rail network would stretch 50-thousand miles and span 43 states — including Iowa, while connecting to about a hundred ports. “Evidently, such a merger is not considered a good thing for agriculture,” Grassley says. “I don’t want to say that I’ve made up my mind on that, but I am a member of the Iowa Farm Bureau and the Iowa Farm Bureau thinks the merger would be bad for agriculture.”
In addition to ag groups, the deal is seeing strong opposition from shippers, labor unions, and competing carriers like B-N-S-F, who fear a merger will bring increased monopoly power, fewer routing choices, and higher shipping costs. Grassley says the Surface Transportation Board has temporarily halted proceedings as it gathers more data on the potential impacts. “They’ve just accepted the application,” he says. “They’re entitled to the additional information that they’ve asked for, and they’ve asked for that to be delivered before the end of July because they ought to have all the information they need.”
The two companies propose merging by early next year. Grassley says he’ll reserve any further judgment on the proposal until there’s a ruling from the board.
