Login
or
Register
Home
»
Trains Magazine
»
Forums
»
General Discussion
»
Class One's getting back into the passenger biz!
Edit topic
Updated your discussion topic below.
Subject
Enter a subject for your topic. Maximum 150 characters.
Post Body
Enter your post below.
Was just reading this article over at the BLE website <br /> <br />"Thinking Outside the Boxcar" <br />http://www.ble.org/pr/news/headline.asp?id=12295 <br /> <br />It was talking about how some freight railroads (Namely Norfolk Southern) were thinking about getting back into the passenger business. <br /> <br />By the sounds of the article, it doesn't seem like they are planning on trans-con routes, but rather commuter services between major cities. <br /> <br />Some interesting quotes from the article. <br /> <br />[quote]QUOTE: <br />The railroad - so used to serving old industries like power plants and car makers - has had to think way outside the boxcar. Indeed, it's now considering the unthinkable - a return to operating some trains between cities. <br />[/quote] <br /> <br />[quote]QUOTE: <br />Norfolk Southern has taken the first step, he said, of "stop saying no" to new approaches to moving goods and people. "Instead we started saying yes - with conditions." <br />He set four principles for such partnerships: No reductions in freight capacity; fair value for use of the railroad's assets; full liability protection; and no subsidy of passenger operations. <br />[/quote] <br /> <br />[quote]QUOTE: <br />With massive congestion on Interstate 81, he said, "There's a lot of discussion about I-81 and how rail can be part" of solving the problem. One idea with support from government and business groups in western Virginia is the creation of the TransDominion Express, or TDX. The passenger rail line would serve Bristol, Roanoke, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Richmond and Washington. <br />Another proposal involves working with Norfolk Southern to build more train tracks parallel to I-81. <br />[/quote] <br /> <br />It also sounds like freight railroads may be getting public funds to up-grade tracks that passenger trains run on, to improve passenger services. <br /> <br />This article certainly got my attention, it sounds as though with air and highway congestion at their worst ever, people are now truly, seriously looking towards making passenger rail a viable alternative.
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
E-mail Subscribe
Check the box below if you want to receive e-mail notifications when replies are made to this thread.
Receive notifications
Update Discussion Topic
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