4 ms·

It's a monopoly on transport via rail. The other alternative is via truck on those, you know, nationalized roadways.

by pstuart 11y ago

protomyth 11y ago
I would love to know how BNSF constitutes a monopoly in the US?
- mulmen 11y ago
  For a route from city A to city B that can be served by BNSF do consumers have a choice of a second railroad? If the answer to that is mostly no doesn't BNSF have some form of monopoly on rail transport?
  - protomyth 11y ago
    Depends on how big the city is, but you have choice - here is a map of MN for example http://www.dot.state.mn.us/ofrw/maps/MNRailMap.pdf http://www.dot.state.mn.us/ofrw/maps/MNRailMap.pdf [edit: also remember track sharing and common transport agreements]
    - mulmen 11y ago
      Thanks for the map. I see that many of these routes are only served by one railroad. For example, how does BNSF not have a monopoly on the route from Moorhead to Brainerd? How common are track sharing and common transport agreements? AnimalMuppet did a great job answering the monopoly question elsewhere in the comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10510522 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10510522
      - protomyth 11y ago
        "Moorhead to Brainerd" - I hire a truck (for that short of distance no one on this planet would use a railroad) or my cars go from railroad to railroad. Yes, for little stretches monopolies exist but no railroad company is an island they do route stuff across rail. Saying BNSF is a monopoly because of small patches like that is saying you have a monopoly on parking in your driveway. Heck, many non-rail companies own a lot of rail cars. Rail competes and works with truck, barge, and air. The US is blessed with a lot of competitive options for transporting goods. My only beef with BNSF is their continuing attempts to lobby for no more pipelines because of all the money they are making from oil in ND. BNSF needs to review its safety policies but the two ND Senators (one from each party) are keeping up the pressure on that front.

It's a monopoly on transport via rail. The other alternative is via truck on those, you know, nationalized roadways.

by pstuart 11y ago

It's a monopoly on transport via rail. The other alternative is via truck on those, you know, nationalized roadways.

protomyth 11y ago

I would love to know how BNSF constitutes a monopoly in the US?

mulmen 11y ago
For a route from city A to city B that can be served by BNSF do consumers have a choice of a second railroad? If the answer to that is mostly no doesn't BNSF have some form of monopoly on rail transport?
- protomyth 11y ago
  Depends on how big the city is, but you have choice - here is a map of MN for example http://www.dot.state.mn.us/ofrw/maps/MNRailMap.pdf http://www.dot.state.mn.us/ofrw/maps/MNRailMap.pdf [edit: also remember track sharing and common transport agreements]
  - mulmen 11y ago
    Thanks for the map. I see that many of these routes are only served by one railroad. For example, how does BNSF not have a monopoly on the route from Moorhead to Brainerd? How common are track sharing and common transport agreements? AnimalMuppet did a great job answering the monopoly question elsewhere in the comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10510522 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10510522
    - protomyth 11y ago
      "Moorhead to Brainerd" - I hire a truck (for that short of distance no one on this planet would use a railroad) or my cars go from railroad to railroad. Yes, for little stretches monopolies exist but no railroad company is an island they do route stuff across rail. Saying BNSF is a monopoly because of small patches like that is saying you have a monopoly on parking in your driveway. Heck, many non-rail companies own a lot of rail cars. Rail competes and works with truck, barge, and air. The US is blessed with a lot of competitive options for transporting goods. My only beef with BNSF is their continuing attempts to lobby for no more pipelines because of all the money they are making from oil in ND. BNSF needs to review its safety policies but the two ND Senators (one from each party) are keeping up the pressure on that front.