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Can Cargo Sprinters be used here in the US?

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[quote user="PNWRMNM"] [quote user="Bucyrus"] <DIV id=ctl00_bodyContent_PostForm__QuoteText> [quote user="PNWRMNM"] [quote user="henry6"]What is now, Dave H., is only part of what lies ahead espeically if the FRA is successful in takeing more traffic off concrete and putting on steel.  [/quote] Henry, The FRA will not take one ton of traffic "off concrete"  FRA is a regulatory agency.  It is a burden on the carriers and often a roadblock to progress.  If you want to find out more see 49 CFR for hundreds of pages of mind numbing fine print detail.  With only exceedingly rare exception the freight rail system supports the government, not the other way around. Mac [/quote] Take a look at this FRA plan.  Is the FRA still just a regulatory agency, or has their role been recently enhanced?  In their plan, they seem to suggest that their role has been enhanced.  It certainly seems like a wide-ranging role when they include, for example,  “livable communities” in their overall objective.  Clearly, they say they want to take freight traffic off of trucks running on highways, and onto rail.  <A href="http://www.fra.dot.gov/Downloads/RailPlanPrelim10-15.pdf" mce_href="http://www.fra.dot.gov/Downloads/RailPlanPrelim10-15.pdf">http://www.fra.dot.gov/Downloads/RailPlanPrelim10-15.pdf</A></DIV> [/quote] Bucyrus, This preliminary plan says nothing of state or federal investment in rail infrastructure.  If dances around the subject on page 24 where it states that stakeholders should develop an investment strategy, and on the top of page 25 it correctly states that rail customers pay the full infrastructure costs for rail, unlike highways for which they claim about 80% cost recovery. FRA will be an advocacy agency if congress tells them to be and gives them the money.  That has yet to happen.  My statement is correct. Mac  [/quote] Mac When I read the FRA Preliminary National Rail Plan, it sure sounds like the FRA is rolling up its sleeves, and about to get right down to business in making sweeping changes to the railroad industry.  They may only be an advocacy agency, as you say, and they do not have all the needed funding in place, but clearly, their national plan sounds like it is perfectly matched to the goals and aspirations of the present administration and of congress.  And the plan outlines so much change that it is dizzying to read.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>  .I understand your point that the money for these changes has not yet been allocated.  But the main point of this particular issue is whether the FRA will drag their feet and prevent the railroad industry from adopting new methods and technologies.  When I read the FRA national plan, it sounds like the last thing the FRA will do is thwart change.  Indeed, the plan works hard in order to not leave out anything that could possibly be changed.  The plan calls for nothing less than the reordering of society for the purpose of better transportation.<o:p></o:p>  .<o:p></o:p>At the bottom of page 1, it says this (blue emphasis is mine):<o:p></o:p> <o:p></o:p> <o:p></o:p>  .<o:p></o:p>“The traditional role of the FRA has long been to promote and oversee railroad safety, and safety remains a focus of FRA. Legislative directives in the last year, most notably PRIIA and the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA), have given FRA additional broad responsibilities to administer and manage funds that will improve rail transportation. The new scope and direction provided by PRIIA and RSIA, in combination with the Recovery Act, has made FRA’s participatory role in rail transportation projects comparable to that of other modal administrations in the Department.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p></o:p>  .<o:p></o:p>The FRA Preliminary National Rail Plan:<o:p></o:p> <A href="http://www.fra.dot.gov/Downloads/RailPlanPrelim10-15.pdf" mce_href="http://www.fra.dot.gov/Downloads/RailPlanPrelim10-15.pdf">http://www.fra.dot.gov/Downloads/RailPlanPrelim10-15.pdf</A>
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