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Murphy - Pull for the shore, 'cause you keep drifting out to sea. The nationwide reduction in rail rates will be most apparent in those areas currently held captive; the Montana grain shipper, the Idaho coal fired power plant, the Utah coal mine, and Peoria-esque widget factories all over the country. The import sector as represented by intermodal will see little if any rate reductions, because that segment is already served by multiple railroads. However, some coastal areas which might make excellent container ports, but are not currently because of constrainment from offering competitive rail rates due to rail captivity (Astoria, Coos Bay, Bellingham, Everett) would finally be able to offer competitive port rates under OA. Greyhounds - If you don't comprehend how the relative size of certain segments of the economy affects how those segments process new cash infusions, then.....[banghead] The fact that the Milwaukee is gone from the PNW has no bearing on whether those ports could handle three or a dozen railroads all at once. Milwaukee's retrenchment had nothing to do with Seattle and Tacoma not being able to handle Milwaukee's traffic, and from what I understand the Milwaukee was the preferred railroad for Seattle and Tacoma. You also seem to have forgotten that the whole multi-user discussion was regarding the allegation made by Bitzan that multiple user rail lines would have higher capital costs (Bitzan's claim: Up to 40% higher) on a ton for ton basis than single user lines. I say show me the real world evidence of this claim, because the U.S. has plenty of areas where two or more carriers are using a single line. You brought up Chicago-Denver, but (correct me if I'm wrong) I don't think any of the rail corridors between these two points are multi-user since both UP and BNSF have their own lines between Chicago and Denver. What I did bring up is the question of whether BNSF's Portland to Puget Sound line has higher maintenance of way costs on a ton for ton basis than any of BNSF's single user lines. I seriously doubt that is the case, but will grant that foreign users of a single carrier's track will be more apt to publicly/financially complain about deferred maintenance than the home crews.
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