Home
»
Trains Magazine
»
Forums
»
General Discussion
»
DM&E Denied $2.5 Billion Taxpayer Backed Loan

Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
[quote user="Datafever"] Star Tribune - Minneapolis St. Paul / February 27, 2007 – 9:47 PM<h1>If DM&E reassesses its proposal, Walz says he could become railroad's ally</h1>WASHINGTON - Rep. Tim Walz said he could support a railroad expansion in southern Minnesota if the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern (DM&E) Railroad re-evaluates the $6 billion project that was denied a federal loan on Monday."We need expanded rail travel, whether that's a coal-based railroad or not, I'm not sure. But I can guarantee that we need an agricultural railroad," Walz, D-Minn., said Tuesday. "I said if they change their focus, if they came about this thing a little differently, they would sure find an ally with me."The railroad company has planned to build about 280 miles of new line to Wyoming's Powder River Basin coal mines and rebuild 600 miles of track in South Dakota and southern Minnesota. It had hoped for a $2.3 billion federal loan to help pay for it, but the Federal Railroad Administration denied the request on Monday, partly out of concern over DM&E's ability to repay it.Walz, whose district would have been crossed by the project and who opposed the loan, said that DM&E's approach needs to be less confrontational and it should reconsider its proposal to haul coal from the Powder River Basin. He said there's a need to transport commodities like corn and soybeans.Full story <a href="http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1030059.html">here</a> [/quote]Help me out here.Wouldn't a trainload of beans/ethanol/etc cause as much of a crossing delay on that gold-plated Mayo Street Crossing as a coal train, or any other train for that matter?Do Minnesoteans think that raw PRB coal is somehow toxic or radioactive, should a coal train derail a block from Mayoville?Do the Walz's[D)] of the world think coal trains and ag trains are incompatible?Do the residents of Walz's district have any premonition that they just might have elected a dunce to represent them in DC?
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag