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Re: Union Pacific seeks bond funds for overhaul of Sierra route
Author: Dave Smith
Date: 02-13-2008 - 19:21
David Jansson Wrote:
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> There IS a solution to this, called the "open
> rails" concept where the government will build up
> the infrastucture and relieve the RRs fron the tax
> and maintenance burden, and let anybody run trains
> on it as long as they meet FRA compliance. You
> could see Wal-Mart stack trains, Toyota or KIA
> autoracks, Cargill or ADM tank trains, etc..
>
> When that idea was kicked over a few years back
> the screams from Omaha and Ft. Worth were pretty
> revealing!
Open Access is a concept that has worked well in continental Europe and Australia, but was a complete shambles in Great Britain. Of course, it is that British example that the Class I's point at to "prove" that the concept won't work here! The more successful implementations are the ones we should look at when analyzing what would work best here.
The whole point of open access is to allow the creation of 3rd party transporters to fill those niche markets that always end up on the highways, or else left to collect dust on the drawing board. All the railroad companies have to do is keep the tracks in good working order, and if they choose they can continue to run their own trains, but other than that all they have to do is to sit back and collect the extra rent.
But I don't know about letting Wal-Mart run their own trains: Do we really want Grampa Simpson in his blue vest standing on the locomotive's railing to greet folks as the train rolls past?
-------------------------------------------------------
> There IS a solution to this, called the "open
> rails" concept where the government will build up
> the infrastucture and relieve the RRs fron the tax
> and maintenance burden, and let anybody run trains
> on it as long as they meet FRA compliance. You
> could see Wal-Mart stack trains, Toyota or KIA
> autoracks, Cargill or ADM tank trains, etc..
>
> When that idea was kicked over a few years back
> the screams from Omaha and Ft. Worth were pretty
> revealing!
Open Access is a concept that has worked well in continental Europe and Australia, but was a complete shambles in Great Britain. Of course, it is that British example that the Class I's point at to "prove" that the concept won't work here! The more successful implementations are the ones we should look at when analyzing what would work best here.
The whole point of open access is to allow the creation of 3rd party transporters to fill those niche markets that always end up on the highways, or else left to collect dust on the drawing board. All the railroad companies have to do is keep the tracks in good working order, and if they choose they can continue to run their own trains, but other than that all they have to do is to sit back and collect the extra rent.
But I don't know about letting Wal-Mart run their own trains: Do we really want Grampa Simpson in his blue vest standing on the locomotive's railing to greet folks as the train rolls past?
