Major US railroad merger could bring more tar sands to south-east Texas

$27bn deal would create first direct route from Canadian mines to Gulf coast, while another would ship controversial oil from Utah

When Lindsay Williams moved into her home near the railroad tracks on Houston's east side, she knew freight trains would pass by regularly. What she wasn't expecting were trains longer than a mile frequently stalled for hours on the neighborhood tracks, blocking multiple intersections of traffic during the day and rumbling her house at night.

A few nights ago, we had a locomotive just idling right outside our home for six hours throughout the night, shaking the entire house," Williams said.