Last week, Canadian Pacific Railroad officials approached CSX rail leaders about a proposed merger than would have had a market value of $62 billion. CSX is the third largest rail road company in the United States.
South Dakota Farmers Union President Doug Sombke says had that merger been okayed it wouldn’t have improved the current backlog in rail service or rail issues being seen. He says it likely would have made things worse.
Sombke also says had CSX agreed with Canadian Pacific to merge, federal regulators would have quickly approved the deal.
C-S-X’s rails run from the Midwest to the U.S. east coast but don’t currently have access to North Dakota’s oil fields. The 6 major U.S. railroads generated $ 2.15 billion hauling crude oil in 2013, up from $ 25.8 million in 2008.