RAILROAD MERGERS AND ABANDONMENTS

This study was conceived as an example of economic criticism of the administrative regulation of resource allocation. Railroad mergers, abandonments, and service discontinuances were chosen as the specific topics because they are interrelated aspects of business policy toward remedying the excess capacity and overinvestment in railroad lines and terminals. It is therefore appropriate to begin this work with a detailed estimate of route capacity, excess capacity, and overinvestment. A major impediment to railroad mergers has been the alleged competition between railroads. Chapters II and III examine this allegation in detail and render a judgment on the effectiveness of interrailroad competition as an impetus to adjustment of investment to changes in technology and shifts in demand. Chapter IV follows logically as an evaluation of the economic impact of recent railroad mergers. In reporting annual net savings of more than $7,000 per mile of line abandoned when traffic is transferred to a parallel line with excess capacity, these mergers demonstrate a clear relationship between traffic density and cost. Chapters V, VI, and VII are concerned with the problems of reallocation of resources through disinvestment in fixed plant. The emphasis is on the regulatory aspects of joint use and abandonment of facilities. The plan of this study was to deal only with those regulatory problems of combination and disinvestment that were peculiar to the railroad industry.

• Corporate Authors:

  University of California Press, Berkeley

  2223 Fulton Street
  Berkeley, CA  United States  94720
• Authors:
  • Conant, M
• Publication Date: 1964

Media Info

• Pagination: 212 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Abandonment; Consolidations; Mergers; Policy; Regulations
• Old TRIS Terms: Government policies
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Law; Policy; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00046890
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: University of California Press, Berkeley
• Report/Paper Numbers: Book
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 14 1976 12:00AM