Many industries are captive to a single railroad, and they view Congress' need to act on the Surface Transportation Board this year as a chance to win changes in railroad regulation.

Ideas for a more competitive rail freight industry range from the Canadian model, where rules require access for a second railroad if its tracks are less than 19 miles (30km) from a facility served by only one railroad, to sharing of long-distance tracks by multiple railroads.

The railroads claim increased competition will reduce the resources they need to invest in better service, and that railroad technology and efficiency improvements in the 1980s and 1990s have passed on big economic savings to rail customers.

A bill introduced in the Senate last year but not acted on would have required railroads to quote a competitive rate to shippers served by only a single carrier. But recently, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott introduced legislation to reauthorize the Surface Transportation Board for four years as is, without any regulatory changes. Some of Lott's Republican colleagues, including Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, disagree and want pro-competition changes to be part of the legislative action.

A rail customer group, the Alliance for Rail Competition, plans a lobbying blitz in March. The Journal of Commerce reported in January that another shipper group, the National Industrial Transportation League, was discussing competition and Surface Transportation Board issues with the railroad industry in hopes of avoiding a protracted legislative fight.

Railroad watchers said the acquisition and breakup of Conrail by CSX and Norfolk-Southern has introduced a more competitive rail industry in much of the northeast, but that the deal neglected provision of adequate, competitive service to New York City and Long Island.