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This thread indicates a fundamental issue which apparently I did not make clear in the "Short Line" article: cost of service. Service can ALWAYS be provided, and is, but at what cost? The problem for the shipper on the non-286K line is that they cannot afford the service. Their competitor on the 286K line is advantaged, whereas the shipper on the 263K line is operating at a cost disadvantage. In a commodity business, where the product is indistinguishable no matter where it comes from, the shipper with higher costs will eventually have to cease business. PNWRNWM and Mudchicken are 100% correct. <br /> <br />Even if such a deal as a drawback is feasible, it's no good. The shipper on the 263K line is still paying an effective higher rate than his competitor on a 286K line, who doesn't have to include trackwork as a part of his cost structure. Kneiling's solution was merely a way to use shipper's better borrowing ability, and it also was a suggestion that railroads should get shippers to recognize that the rail plant was in effect part of their own plant, but he was not claiming that this would be something for nothing. <br /> <br />The solution that the ASLRRA proposes is to use taxpayer money to subsidize the shipper on the 263K line. That might be a good idea; it might not.
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