Former FRA Administrator Gil Carmichael on RRs

[Anonymous]

Gil Carmichael talks railroads on Forbes.com

By Steve Gillespie / assistant editor
The Meridian Star

MERIDIAN — An in-depth interview with Meridian businessman and former Federal Railroad Administrator Gil Carmichael was posted Friday on Forbes.com, the online version of Forbes Magazine.

Carmichael, who also is senior board chairman for the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver, spoke on the potential for growth in the nation’s railroad system in an interview with Robert Malone.

The story is titled “Railroads Can Move Forward.”

In the interview, Carmichael cites Meridian, specifically the industrial site at Kewanee near the Alabama state line, as a prime location for an intermodal yard, which would be used to expedite the transfer of containers from trucks to rail or rail to trucks. The yards would require a variety of lifting devices to raise or lower containers to, or from, a double-stack on a rail car.

“Well, intermodal transportation is the core element of an intelligent logistics infrastructure, because it is the system that actually delivers the goods — and does so in a way that optimizes equipment and personnel utilization, builds on the inherent strengths of each of the participating modes, and maximizes such key benefits as safety, fuel efficiency and reduced environmental impact. The intermodal system also gives the customer more flexibility in choices of modes, routing and levels of service,” Carmichael said in the interview.

“In the Meridian example, the dramatic improvements to the Kansas City Southern/Norfolk Southern ‘Meridian Speedway’ have created a transportation corridor of national importance. The city of Meridian is at the junction of three railroads and three four-lane highways, which makes it a logical locale for a regional intermodal hub.

“But leaders in Meridian believe that this facility can be much more than a freight transfer point. Their 1,400-acre site also is intended to be the home of large-scale manufacturing and warehousing operations, which will have direct access to transportation services without the need for short-distance drayage. Given its proximity to Gulf Coast ports, this huge industrial park and intermodal terminal could become a factor in global trade.”

The link to the entire article is: www.forbes.com/2006/05/04/railroads-intermodal-shipping-cx_rm_0505rail.html?partner=alerts.

[kenneo]

So, is this proposal simply an "example", a simple sales job, or is it to render "useless" the current infrastructure with something new that may not be economically viable?

Enquiring minds want to know.