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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by nhs792 One big issue that never gets much discussion is what to do with the train at termination points. Unless you are just proposing unit train operations for OA, then the other carrier has to provide some sort of switching facility at the other end of the run to gather or disperse his cars. If you think that the mainlines have capacity issues, the terminals are even worse. A huge risk I see in OA is if you should somehow separate the transportation company from the right of way company, that means that the routes for each carrier are pretty much the same and since the same company will be dispatching the RoW for all the carriers operating on the route equally, there will be no difference in route, transit time, or service. And since they will all be charged the same rate for the same trains over the same territory, and are using the same engines (all US RR's use either GE or EMD engines) over the same territory, the base transit and fuel costs will be the same. The only way a company can distinguish itself is by price. You will have RR companies that are currently, by some measures, marginal as far as profitability goes, driven into price wars. That will be great for consumers until the bancruptcies start rolling in again. Smith. [/quote] I don't beleive each rail ROW would necessarily be a carbon copy of the others. Some with the better profiles will appeal to HAL transporters, while those with more gradient may opt to pursue 3PI's. Some will keep current speed averages, others may opt for higher speeds to increase daily usage. Also, what we would see is an evolution of the disparate trucking, railroad, barge lines, ect. into more integrated transportation companies, offering their shippers transport between Point A and Point B in a single package offering, then deciding for themselves the best combination of modes to get that job done, depending on the customer's speed/tonnage requirements.
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