The report also found that global transportation costs have fallen below their long-term average thanks to lessening pressures on shipping, rail, air and road freight. 

Brookfield agreed to buy Triton International Ltd., the world’s largest owner of intermodal shipping containers, for $4.7 billion.

The FRA said an analysis revealed several common themes among recent crashes, including that each one had 125 cars or more, and an empty car was the first to derail in all cases.

Meanwhile, it emerged that a team of government officials became sick while investigating the health effects of the toxic train derailment, when they visited the Ohio site earlier this month.

The embattled company has struggled with major inefficiencies that have led to traffic being redirected to ports outside South Africa.

Oberman led the transportation board in approving the $31 billion merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern, which will have steep repercussions for Chicago-area communities, citing safety as one of the chief reasons.

Federal data shows the number of derailments among major freight railroads has fallen sharply since 2000 but that the rate of derailments for some railroads has increased in more recent years. 

Democratic Senator Peter Welch of Vermont asked Norfolk Southern's chief executive officer Alan Shaw whether the rail company would pause the activity until it had fulfilled the commitments made to residents at the crash site.

Hinrichs said his desire to shake things up at 195-year-old CSX is about capturing the lost opportunity to increase shipments over the past decade and a half.

For decades, the Justice Department and FTC have taken the lead on competition issues, but a Presidential executive order called on industry regulators to engage in independent oversight of mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures.