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Why are people such as mudchicken so ridiculously threatened by open access? Maybe it's the fact that open access is the obvious cure to the issue of monopoly power and lack of competitive rate setting that is screwing so many captive rail shippers. I guess industry insiders might feel that their jobs would be threatened if open access became a reality due to the sudden onset of competition. If open access is what it takes to bring the majority of shippers back to using rail, then so be it. Otherwise, the rail industry is heading for a disasterous implosion as rail CEO's pad their bank accounts while the infrastructure crumbles. <br /> <br />If railroads were separated into their respective operating and infrastructure owning components, there would be more incentive for the infrastructure companies to provide a state of the art right of way for the 286k and 315k cars. Otherwise, they will lose their customers to another infrastructure company. This is how competition works. With the macro-monopolies we have now, the incentive to invest in the proper maintenance for any but the most heavily used lines just does not exist. Rail lines deteriorate, service suffers, and the rail shippers on those lines either switch to trucks or close down their operations and invest their capital elsewhere. It is a situation that should have been addressed in the Stagger's Act back in 1980, or at least during the UP/SP and BN/SF mergers. Unfortunately, Linda Morgan and the other greased palms of the STB have created a situation in which much of the nation is under monopolistic inefficiencies. Our ag, forestry, and export sectors are suffering as a result. <br /> <br />If open access is buried as some are suggesting, then we should all prepare ourselves for the economic implosion that is not too far off. It is inevitable.
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