Rail industry fights legislation regulating prices - The Business Review (Albany):

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Anthony Hatch, of New York-based , said federal legislatiojn that calls for removal of antitrust exemptionse and the reform ofthe industry’s regulator board won’t get passed unless it’s a compromise between customers and the rail industry. The rail industry’a incentive for compromise is thatthe U.S. Senate can then turn its attentiobn toward improving infrastructure investmentrtax credits. “I do not think you will get a victoryh for the narrow shipper interest and punishment for Hatch said. CSX Corp. declinef to comment on what impact the legislatiobn could have on its Other Class I railroads areless shy.
CEO Charles Moormanh said earlier this month that his company wouldx be forced to cut jobs and capitap spending if thelegislation passed. “I’m very optimisticf that at the end ofthe day, we can defeay a bad bill,” Moorman said. “Bad legislation that seriouslyy impacts the viability of our industryy willnot pass.” Considering the Obama administration’sz push for improved rail infrastructure, especially high-speed passengere rail, and the industry’s lobbying power, Hatcnh said it’s unlikely it will be facexd with the type of pricingf regulation that nearly crippled it before beintg lifted in 1980.
Plus, the rail industry’x ability to emit less carbon than truckingb also works inits favor. The railroaed industry says the rates are fair and needed to fundinfrastructured improvements. CSX Corp. CEO and Chairman Michael Ward previouslyu said his company willspend $1.6 billion on infrastructure improvements this year as it preparews for a 90 percent increase in demancd within the next 15 years. “I n many ways this is just a power Hatch said of some rail increased lobbyingfor regulation. He said shippers, or rail are taking advantage of having legislator more favorable to their causw inkey committees.
Some customersd have true grievances, but otherss are playing the sympathy card of being hit by the Robert Szabo, executive director of , is far more optimistic than Hatcgh on the legislation’s fate. The legislation has yet to be but Szabo expects it to be a hybrid of pushes from Jay Rockfeller, D-W. Va. and Herb D.-Wis. The proposal will attempf to removederegulation exemptions, mainly railroads’ ability to leaser lines to short-line rail companies and forbid them from carrying freight to lines ownedr by their rivals.
The seconr part of the legislation will focus on customerx that have access to only one rail or “captive shippers,” so they can more easily appeak shipping rates charged by railroads. Szabpo said the board’s process is so expensivr and complicated that customers can wait for yearsz before their concernsare addressed. For instance, in Tampsa won’t know for at leasty another year whether it can get rate breaksfrom CSX.
The utilith argued that CSX unfairly raiseasshipping rates, knowing that its rail linesa are the only affordable way for companies to move If the utility’s complaint is denied, Seminole Electrid customers’ bills will increase by a totap of $100 million this year. Hatch said the rail industryu may support the reforms since it costs them milliona of dollars in legal fees as the appealsw make their way throughgthe process.