Railroad Law a Decade after Deregulation

Railroads, our first large corporations, are rapidly adapting to the deregulated climate of the 1990s. As we approach the 21st century, this book tells the story of the changing role of railroads in our economy and how the law has changed to meet the new competitive environment. Topics include abandonment and extension, railway labor law, rail passenger service, short line spinoffs, special problems of railroad employment and parallel deregulatory activity in Canada.

The authors deal with the changing railroad environment by describing the rail network of today, which has shrunk in route-miles but is in better shape than at any time since World War II. The changing role of rail employment is discussed, as well as government operation of Amtrak and commuter rail services. What regulation remains with the Interstate Commerce Commission and Federal Railroad Administration is described in detail. Finally, the authors go north of the border to show how Canada is facing rail deregulation and how Canadian railroads are playing a major part in the U.S. transportation scene. The authors close with a look at railroading as we approach the 21st century. Dooley and Thoms have written a comprehensive book for lawyers and rail enthusiasts alike.

FRANK J. DOOLEY is an Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics at North Dakota State University. For many years he was a researcher for the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute in Fargo, N.D., and has written extensively in the area of rail economics and law. A lawyer as well as an economist, Dooley is coauthor of Airline Labor Law (Quorum Books, 1990).

WILLIAM E. THOMS is Professor of Law at the University of North Dakota and headed its institutes of aviation law and Canadian-American law. Thoms has done extensive writing in the field of transportation law. He is the author of Reprieve for the Iron Horse (1973), and coauthor of Law and Economic Regulation in Transportation (Quorum, 1986), Airline Labor Law (Quorum, 1991) and Pilots, Personality and Performance (Quorum, 1992). With Paul Dempsey and Robert Hardaway, he is coauthor of Aviation Law and Regulation (1993).