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[quote user="LNER4472"] But the Association of American Railroads has, in the past alleged that the "payback" to the Federal government for the benefits of land grants, etc. by means of a century of mail discounts, military movements, etc. amounted to anywhere between two and five times the value of the land grant benefits doled out.  The argument started as soon as the policy was announced in the 1860s, and in a sense continues here today. [/quote] The American Association of Railroads is hardly an objective, disinterested source.  Whilst in college I took several transportation economics courses.  Whether the railroads covered the benefits received from the federal, state, and local governments is difficult to determine.  In fact, as I remember it, several of my professors claimed, rightly so I believe, that it would be impossible for a variety of reasons that would take more than a couple of textbooks and seminars to cover.  Unlike the American Association of Railroads, they did not have a dog in the hunt.  In any case, at the end of the day, it is probably a fair statement that the government got back most of its direct subsidies to the railroads, although whether they got back all the value granted is problematic. My point is that the railroads have received government support from the get go, and they continue to receive it. The NS received government support to daylight or expand a number of its tunnels so that it can expedite double stack trains from Norfolk to the mid-west.  And the BNSF is getting $10 million from the federal government, as well as $22.4 million from state and local authorities, to rebuild 20 miles of flood prone rails near Church Ferry, N.D. Highways, airways, waterways, ports, etc in the U.S. have been funded by the federal, state, and local governments.  As I have pointed out in a number of in-depth arguments, the users have paid for them, either directly or indirectly.  To be sure there has been some cross subsidizing of motorists, i.e. upper income motorists tend to subsidize lower income motorists, but at the end of the day the users pay for the highways, airways, waterways, ports, etc.  This is true for the freight railroads as well, albeit, not passenger operations. If it is technically and economically feasible, I would love to see the railroads haul the crude from Canada to Texas or wherever it needs to go.
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