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Panama Canal expansion to hurt intermodal?

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[quote user="solzrules"] Just read this in the news: <A href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10627208/">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10627208/</A> Looks like the people of Panama are going to expand the canal by 2015.  A couple of comments:  When the original canal was completed in 1914 it proved to be a major competitor for transcon railroads in the US.  All transcons lost some business to it, and it put some rrs on a precarious footing right after their new rr line was built (Milwaukee Road).  The Milwakee Road eventually lost their transcon due to a lack of business, some would argue because of the completion of the Panama Canal.  Translated in to today's markets:  if the canal were upgraded to accommodate the big container ships on the seas today, would this cut into BNSF and UP's transcon intermodal franchise?  Would this have a chilling effect on capitol expenditures on infrastructure that the rr's are planning for in the next couple of years?  [/quote] It hasn't yet! By the way, how do you know that any of the transcons "lost" business to the Panama Canal?  Are you referring to business they had that shifted to water?  Or new business that began moving at the low, low, all-water rate after the Canal opened -- and how would that business ever have moved by rail in the first place?  Surely the annual reports of all the transcons would reflect a big hiccup in their traffic and revenue before and after -- have you checked those yet? S. Hadid
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