Why are Norfolk Southern and CSX pursuing Conrail?
A. CSX and Norfolk Southern are direct competitors outside of the Northeast where Conrail is almost a rail monopoly, so either one of Conrail’s suitors is strengthened considerably by the merger. The key differences between these two merger proposals were in the railroad lines that would be merged with Conrail, making a single railroad that served essentially the entire United States east of the Mississippi. Q. Does CSX’s failure mean that Norfolk Southern will get Conrail? A. It looks like neither of the original proposals will emerge victorious and intact. The nay vote by Conrail stockholders on the CSX proposal was certainly very dramatic, but there are many obstacles to a merger with NS now, including Conrail’s poison pill. Right now, the path of trying to come up with a plan acceptable to the three firms seems to hold most promise. If a merger does take place, and of course all parties are still pushing hard for this, then it is likely to realign major routes so that more competit
