A few years ago I wrote a post about how the US railroad industry has become a monopoly with a neat map. The article was well received and continues to receive interest from readers. The following post is an update to that article.
Of the Class I railroads in the US, the following four are majors:
Out of these, BNSF is private owned by Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway. The other three are available on the market for investors.
These four major railroads became powerful as a result of many mergers and acquisitions over the past 50 years. The following chart shows the evolution of these railroads:
Click to enlarge
The chart below shows the Network Map for the four US Railroads:
Click to enlarge
Via: The Big Picture
The following is another chart showing the merger wave in the American railroad industry:
Source: RailRoad Signals
All US railroads are excellent for long-term investments. The best way to profit from railroads is simply buy a bunch of stocks and forget about them for years. After 10 or 20 years with dividend reinvested an investor will be rewarded well.
Also see:
Disclosure: Long NSC, CSX, UNP
