Login
or
Register
Home
»
Trains Magazine
»
Forums
»
General Discussion
»
Is there a market for 79+ MPH Intermodal service in the US or does capacity issues kill the idea??
Edit post
Edit your reply below.
Post Body
Enter your post below.
If you are going to invest in any significant infrastructure improvements beyond "just in time" maintenance, you gotta do like the utilities are doing when planning for new coal fired power generation facilities: Start charging your customers now for a plant to be built 10 years from now. I think it's called "pre-pay as you go" as opposed to "pay as you go" e.g. social security or "build now, pay later" e.g. construction bonds. <br /> <br />If the railroads or the FRA are dictated by Congress to implement some of the suggestions here, they need to start charging for it now, and it would have to be comprehesive accross all the Class I's as well as the trucking companies. That's why it is more likely to have to come from the feds in the form of a new tax, something like a per container/truckload per mile tax. Then a few years down the road, they can start either building a new high speed freight rail network, improve the current rail infrastructure to handle dual speed trains, or build/rebuild/improve the condition of secondary mainlines to handle separate low speed and high speed consists. <br /> <br />If projections regarding an explosion of intermodal demand in the near future ring true, then the feds have got to start planning now. Can the Interstate system handle the increase if the railroads are loathe to invest in the capacity improvements themselves? Probably not. That's why it is only a matter of time before the feds get involved in the nation's rail infrastructure the same way they've involved themselves in the highway and waterway corridors. The pressures of Wall Street to induce higher ROI in capital heavy industries compared to other Dow Darlings makes it imperative that the feds reduce some of the cost burdens of the railroads. <br /> <br />Moving such projects to federal direction allows for the "build for the future" mentality once inherent in the early days of railroading but lacking today due to understandable risk aversion.
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
Update Reply
Join our Community!
Our community is
FREE
to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Login »
Register »
Search the Community
Newsletter Sign-Up
By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our
privacy policy
More great sites from Kalmbach Media
Terms Of Use
|
Privacy Policy
|
Copyright Policy