U.S. railroads may be heading for the Dark Days of reregulation. Many people are familiar with the so-called “Doomsday Clock,” a symbolic countdown to some man-made catastrophe. Respected scientists use the clock as a reminder that humanity is no infallible. Lately I’ve wondered if it’s not time to setup a similar device to remind railroads of the likelihood of pending reregulation.
Before the Staggers Act of 1980, U.S. railroads were strangled by regulations that limited their ability to compete both with each other and other modes of transportation. In 1970, U.S. railroads’ return on shareholder investment was 0.43 percent; in 2010 it was 11.23 percent, according to Association of American Railroad statistics..
Today, each new crisis involving railroads brings added calls for oversight or accountability. Most weeks this summer, some senator, or governor, or industry is pushing an agenda for rail safety or service improvements.
This week, I see stories that U.S. Sen. Robert Casey of Pennsylvania is pushing the Obama administration for more railroad bridge inspectors to work in the state. (There is presently but one.) North Dakota also signed an agreement with the Federal Railroad Administration to double the number of railroad inspectors in the state, but at the state’s expense. In the past few weeks, there was news of an FRA “reminder” to railroads to abide by previous Emergency Orders and a federal review of the New York & Atlantic’s “safety culture,” a term curiously undefined by federal statutes. Don’t forget the long-term mandates for positive train control, safer tank cars for hazardous materials, and reduced emissions in diesel locomotives.
Are railroads teetering on the brink of reregulation, or is this just more of the usual political posturing that doesn’t go anywhere meaningful? I have to wonder, at least lately, if the railroad’s clock is swinging back to the Dark Days before deregulation.
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