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Do Railroad Managers Secretly Favor PTC?

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[quote user="edblysard"]Mr. Bernier hit the  nail on the head…railroad management realized they had two expensive and drawn out political battles ahead of them, the PTC mandate and re-regulation, both with long term long range effects on the entire industry and its business and on profits. They choose to concede to the lesser of two evils in order to focus on what they see as the one battle that can easily  bankrupt the industry.[/quote] I can see reasons to doubt that the total explanation or even part of the explanation for railroad companies not voicing strong opposition to the mandate is that they are saving their energy to fight bigger battles such as reregulation.  That explanation does make some sense, but I see other compelling explanations as well.  For one thing, I would say that PTC is one form of reregulation.  For the time being at least, it seems to be the biggest form of reregulation on the table.  So maybe railroads are not saving their ammunition for any upcoming battles, including PTC.  Maybe they will not fight subsequent forms of reregulation in addition to not fighting PTC.  Maybe they just won’t fight any battles with the government.  Maybe they see this period as being highly regulatory, and they feel it is better not to oppose anything until they get a more favorable political climate. Fighting or logic will not win a battle with those who are born to regulate.  Railroad companies may also be thinking about the PTC deadline and how events will unfold as that deadline draws near and obviously cannot be met.  That alone could present the need to fight a battle.  Maybe railroad companies are saving their strength for the battle of how to reformulate the mandate deadline.  Without a deadline, the mandate is not a mandate.  Maybe they will begin their fight against PTC only after everyone agrees that the deadline cannot be met.
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