Dubuque Iowa USA - Last year, railroad companies Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern announced a merger valued at US$31 billion.
 
Their conjunction would create the first Canada-to-Mexico single-line railroad, mostly to transport crude oil.
 
As a result, railroad crossings in Dubuque and eastern Iowa are going to get a lot busier, hurting our community.
 
If the proposed merger is approved, six more trains will pass through Dubuque every day, bringing the average to 18 trains each day.
 
Even worse, each train could be longer than the last.
 
CP trains already average 8,285 feet, or a mile and a half in length, but can regularly be 12,000 feet long.
 
The increase in traffic and train length under the proposed merger will slow downtown traffic to a standstill, creating exorbitant wait times for commuters, workers, and consumers looking to shop local.
 
Some businesses already report trains standing still for up to two hours, forcing people to find alternative, less convenient, routes.
 
The Surface Transportation Board (STB), charged with studying the merger, should consider how it will exacerbate these concerns.
 
Despite its promises, CP has done little to solve the issue of excessively long trains.
 
The federal government even deemed it necessary to intervene by mandating a study on train length and public safety.
 
That investigation isn't completed, and the STB should delay approving the merger until it is.
 
A multi-billion-dollar merger doesn't serve the people and businesses of Dubuque, but rather inconveniences all of us.
 
Tyler Ernzen.