DIYbanter - View Single Post - Are we the only ones getting screwed ?????

aemeijers

wrote:
On Sun, 30 Mar 2008 09:46:11 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

taxpayers pay for roads...........

railroads have to pay for rails........

made rail cost more for many years.

I guess you missed the creation of Conrail and Amtrack
Uncle sam has been maintaining rails since the Carter administration

rail lines should be electrified

They are in the places that make sense to do it. Mostly the NE
corridor

Go back about 150 years. Fed Gov and the railroads were in bed together
for decades to settle the west, to the point where the line between the
railroads and the government got real fuzzy in spots. Railroads had land
grants, exclusive hauling rights, all sorts of sweetheart deals. Not
saying that was always a bad thing (unless you were a Native American or
a Buffalo, of course), just that it is what happened.

But in modern world, for human cargo, railroads only make economic sense
in certain locations, where the traffic flow will pay the costs. In US,
BOWASH corridor, SF-SD corridor, and maybe the Chicago-Detroit
corridor, would qualify. Perhaps a few more where they could share
existing freight ROWs. The interstates just have too much of a head start.

--
aem sends...