Responding to tre challenge

摘要

The railroad industry has seen its up and downs over the years and has effectively survived. The decades long trend of merging properties has been key to the evolution of the state of the industry as we know it today -seven Class I railroads. A watershed event that provided dramatic, positive results in our industry was the passing of the Staggers Act in 1980. Prior to the Staggers Act, profitable railroading was at best difficult and, in most cases, was moving backwards from a return on the investment standpoint. Deregulation allowed the industry to compete in free enterprise with the other modes of transporting goods. The results are better competitive transportation for the customer base, improved infrastructure, newer and upgraded equipment and an increased profitable business volume. The railroad industry has maintained growth through the recent economic downturn and positioned itself quite well for the recovery.