Wednesday, December 22, 1999 (Washington, DC )

The U.S. Department of Transportation is concerned with all aspects of rail mergers, from the impact on competition to the effects on labor, communities and the environment. We will be an active participant in the proceeding before the Surface Transportation Board, and will consult closely with all stakeholders as we develop our position on this merger as we have in the past.

First and foremost, however, our primary responsibility is to ensure the safety of any newly-merged system. Safety is President Clinton’s and Vice President Gore’s highest transportation priority and the North Star by which U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater guides the Department and all its agencies.

After the safety problems surrounding the Union Pacific’s acquisition of the Southern Pacific, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Surface Transportation Board worked together to develop the first ever Safety Integration Plans (SIPs). By providing a blueprint for the merging railroads to address critical safety needs during an acquisition, a SIP is an essential tool to address safety concerns associated with any major railroad merger.

FRA successfully worked with CSX and Norfolk Southern (NS) to implement a SIP as part of the acquisition of Consolidated Rail Corporation this past June. Despite a number of service problems associated with the acquisition, overall safety of both CSX and NS has improved compared to the same period of a year ago. If approved by the STB, the Canadian National-Burlington Northern Santa Fe merger will create the largest railroad in North America. FRA will work closely with CN and BNSF to ensure that the complex safety challenges presented by the acquisition will be met.