Rail industry fights legislation regulating prices - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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Anthony Hatch, of New York-based , said federa legislation that calls for removal of antitrust exemptions and the reform ofthe industry’s regulatorgy board won’t get passed unless it’a a compromise between customers and the rail The rail industry’s incentive for compromise is that the U.S. Senates can then turn its attentiom toward improving infrastructure investmenttax “I do not think you will get a victort for the narrow shipper interest and punishmenrt for railroads,” Hatch said. CSX declined to comment on what impactf the legislation could have onits business. Otheer Class I railroads are less shy.
CEO Charles Moorman said earlier this month that his company would be forcedc to cut jobs and capital spending if thelegislation “I’m very optimistic that at the end of the day, we can defeatt a bad bill,” Moorman said. “Bad legislation that seriouslyg impacts the viability of our industry willnot pass.” Considering the Obama administration’sw push for improved rail infrastructure, especially high-speeds passenger rail, and the industry’s lobbyinh power, Hatch said it’s unlikely it will be facedf with the type of pricing regulation that nearl crippled it before being lifted in 1980.
the rail industry’s ability to emit less carbon than truckinf also works inits favor. The railroad industry says the rates are fair and needed to fundinfrastructurew improvements. CSX Corp. CEO and Chairman Michael Ward previouslhy said his company willspenf $1.6 billion on infrastructure improvements this year as it prepares for a 90 percentg increase in demand within the next 15 “In many ways this is just a power Hatch said of some rail customers’ increasee lobbying for regulation.
He said shippers, or rail are taking advantage of havinf legislators more favorable to their cause in key Some customers have true but others are playinbg the sympathy card of being hit by the Robert Szabo, executive director of , is far more optimisticv than Hatch on the legislation’s The legislation has yet to be unveiled, but Szabo expectz it to be a hybrid of pushees from Sens. Jay Rockfeller, D-W. Va.
and Herb Kohl, The proposal will attempt to removsderegulation exemptions, mainly railroads’ ability to lease lines to short-linee rail companies and forbir them from carrying freight to linesa owned by their The second part of the legislation will focus on customeres that have access to only one rail line, or “captive shippers,” so they can more easil appeal shipping rates charged by Szabo said the board’s process is so expensive and complicateed that customers can wait for year s before their concerns are addressed. For instance, in Tampq won’t know for at least another year whether it can get rate breakfrom CSX.
The utility argued that CSX unfairlyy raisesshipping rates, knowing that its rail lines are the only affordabl way for companies to move products. If the utility’s complaintg is denied, Seminole Electric bills will increase by a totalof $100 million this Hatch said the rail industryy may support the reforms since it costs them millionsx of dollars in legal fees as the appeales make their way through the process.