Why does it cost more to ship by captive rail than competitive routes?
The cost to the railroad of a comparable competitive and captive movement is the same. But the simple truth is that where the railroad has monopoly power, in the absence of effective oversight by the Surface Transportation Board, the railroad can charge whatever it wants. Obviously the rail companies need to be profitable and need to have capital to invest in expanding the nation’s rail system. But this economic reality does not justify unrestrained monopoly power that allows the railroad to extract whatever it wants from defenseless and dependent captive rail customers.
