100 years ago, shipping patterns looked very different from what they look like today. In 1925, the Panama canal had just celebrated its 11 year anniversary, and (unlike today) all ships could physically fit in the canal. Goods would arrive on whichever US coast was closer to their final destination, and would be shipped by rail if needed. So having a system of rail transport on each side of the country, and transfer stations in the middle (if needed) made lots of sense.

Laws were in place to prevent any individual company owning too much of the railroad distribution network because railroads were your only viable option for shipping. It would be another 30 years before the US funded a highway system, with the Federal Aid Highway Act in 1956. Over the last 70 years, we've been seeing more and more shipping happening by On-road trucks, with subsidized infrastructure. Buffett acknowledged the competition that these on-road truck with "subsidized infrastructure" i.e. tax-payer funded highways. I think we need *something* to allow better competition with highway-using trucks. Personally I feel that something should be highway fees for trucks, but if it's reduced red tape for railroads maybe that's OK.