CONGRESS REVIEWS FREIGHT RAIL SPENDING
American railroads do not have the resources to maintain, upgrade and expand tracks and other infrastructure needed to take more freight volume off crowded roadways, state government and industry officials told a House panel Thursday.
Rep. Jack Quinn, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure railroads subcommittee, called railroads 'the country's most under utilized infrastructure.' But without federal assistance the railroads will not be able to accommodate heavier cars, faster transit trains and new routes, the witnesses said.
The hearing was held to outline rail priorities as Congress prepares to pass legislation to reauthorize the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, the multi-year spending plan for surface transportation. The committee is looking at ways to clear administrative hurdles that have prevented railroads from taking advantage of loan programs established in 1998.
Expanding the Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing Program and easing regulatory barriers to its use could help short-line and Class I railroads maintain service levels, said Edward Hamberger, president of the Association of American Railroads.
Other suggestions from witnesses included:
* Maintaining funding for highway-rail grade crossing safety improvements.
* Repealing the 4.3-cent- per-gallon rail fuel tax that is used for deficit reduction, or moving the money to a trust fund dedicated to rail infrastructure.
* Increasing the flexibility of environmental rules designed to reduce smog in urban areas by allowing funding for rail projects that cut road congestion and vehicle idling.
The National Industrial Transportation League, representing shippers, also called on the federal government to boost financing of rail infrastructure, especially short-line rail carriers that cannot handle the new generation of 286,000-pound freight cars that are now standard.
Unless small railroads connect rural America to the national railroad system by small railroads, 'the cost of transportation for small shippers will increase and the cost of maintaining local roads will skyrocket as millions of carloads are moved from rail to truck,' explained Richard Timmons, president of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association.
Philip Marlino, director of commercial transportation at ConocoPhillips and head of NIT League's rail transportation committee, added that federal support 'must be coupled with legislative changes that would provide for increased rail-to-rail competition and measures that would bring about a better balance in the commercial relationship between shippers and their rail carriers.' Increasing the number of railroads serving an area might be accomplished by competitive switching within a certain distance of a terminal.
Mandatory, expedited arbitration of disputes between shippers and rail carriers could also bring some balance to the market, he said.