I for one would be happy to "spare you"; but sadly, after a forty year career, much of it dealing with public agencies, I have to tell you that the Bloomberg article is quite correct. They are not exaggerating one bit. If you have seen my posts over the years on the subject, you might've noticed that I have been blowing that whistle for a very long time now.

After spending so many years in service to these agencies, it saddens and appalls me that most of them have never learned one damn thing - The simple fact that if the likes of UP or BNSF can build a 2nd or 3rd track on existing r.o.w. for a couple of million dollars per mile - so can they. But most of them end up spending ten or twenty times that, or even more.

One especially egregious example would be BART's extension to the San Francisco International Airport - 11 miles over an existing and entirely vacant railroad r.o.w with very limited street crossings, costing nearly 150 million per mile. Even Congress balked at that one; but in the end, added lobbying by the airline industry got it pushed through. But BART had to sell its soul to the airline lobby first - thus the surcharge to use the airport station.

No amount of suggesting less expensive construction options or techniques, will get you anywhere but taken off the project - or worse. It's as though the motto is, Why spend $100; when a $1000 will do, or even $10,000. He who spends the most money - wins! I am now retired, and do not have to put up with it anymore. But I am saddened because we could have done so much more, if only public agencies would have stopped giving away the store to their contractors.

Before you dismiss this as unimportant, just think what might have been. In the example mentioned above, two UP tracks laid down on an existing r.o.w. might have cost about 4 mil per mile for both. Add in another 4 mil per mile for electrification, 10 mil for grade separation and protective fencing; then you have 18 mil per mile. At $1.5 billion, that is 83 miles of double track. But only 11 miles actually got built. "Of all the tales of mice and men - The saddest of all is - It might've been"

At this rate we will all go broke while those contractors keep on pocketing the difference. Sooner or later, if free-spending public agencies become the dominant buyers of track and signaling, it will bid up the price paid by all, forcing the railroads to pay the same. If that happens, it will be the end of the game for private industry railroading in America.

If you can be happy with that reality - if it's OK with you that someone has to be pocketing all that money - then by all means spare yourself! don't listen! Don't care! But pretty soon the spiraling costs afflicting this, and other elements of our economy, will put us all out of business. But private railroading will be the first to go.

OPB