ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, November 24, 1996 TAG: 9611250055
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
THE FEDERAL government - via the court system, for example, or the Surface Transportation Board (formerly the Interstate Commerce Commission) - could end up playing a role in the battle between CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern to acquire Conrail.
But when Pennsylvania Congressman Bud Shuster cites a third source of public-sector interest, in the fact that Conrail was once government-owned, he's off-base.
Because the taxpayers put $7 billion into Conrail and got only $2 billion back when the company was privatized 10 years ago, argues Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, they still have a $5 billion investment in the company.
Sorry, a deal's a deal. The taxpayers gave up their equity investment in Conrail when their shares of its stock were sold to the private bidders who became Conrail's new owners.
To be sure, the taxpayers should have gotten a better price. But they didn't. They didn't, it's worth recalling, because Congress rejected an NS bid to buy Conrail then and instead insisted, under pressure from Conrail employees, that the company be privatized as an independent entity.
An appeals court last week refused Norfolk Southern's request to delay CSX's attempt to buy the railroad. But NS is still in the game. Conrail shareholders could still choose the general interest of a higher-priced NS offer over the special interest of CSX's cushier deal for Conrail management.
Speaking of special interests: If Shuster's claim of a public interest seems odd coming from a conservative Republican, remember that his district includes Altoona, home to many Conrail employees.
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