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Why The Goverment should repo Union Pacific!

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Back to the original topic, IMHO the whole idea makes no sense at all. U.P. isn't a slumlord like the Penn Central was. They haven't been close to bankruptcy even during the bleakest years. Being financially strong and large means they can much more easily afford the capital expenditures than an in-debt spun-off startup could. If history is any guide, they will turn the former S.P into a first class railroad, but it will take some time. Consider the BNSF transcon article in Trains. There's really not that much to double track, but it won't happen overnight and will take bushels of money to do it. BNSF CEO Rose's coments about capital investment vs. return are right on. Large older U.S. companies like the U.P. are largely owned by mutual funds, pension funds, insurance companies. Own an S&P 500 fund? - you own U.P. When someone's 401K starts doing badly, they shift the funds somewhere else so railroads have to show results just like any other corporation. As far as letting the government do it, do we really want another Conrail??? That mess still isnlt cleaned up. By the time all the Congressional committees study everything, add unrelated pork barrel expenditures to any bill that might pass, and finally get started, the S.P. will be no better than a goat-path much like the Rock Island was after years of political wrangling in the courts, states, shippers, regulators, etc.
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