wasd It is that rail infrastructure should be nationalized while private operators remain in an open access system,
This was proposed as early as railroading's beginnings here in the 19th Century, and on-and-off ever since. It's always been dismissed as unworkable for various reasons.
We already have a form of open access. It's called shortlines.
This topic has been rehashed multiple times, mostly by the unlamented "futuremodal", who believed that open access, RoadRailers and dual-power locomotives would save railroading.
In Europe and elsewhere, open access came as a result of privatization of operating entities, while the rights-of-way were retained by the government. With open access, any operating entity could theoretically operate anywhere, paying appropriate fees to the right-of-way owner. But, just because anybody could operate everywhere doesn't mean that anybody is going to operate on an underutilized branch with a handful of small customers.
I doubt that open access would be an improvement in North America.
Circular file fodder.
I found this video yesterday:
https://youtu.be/LnNYXXgq5-w
While primarily dealing with passenger trains, it brings up an interesting idea that I have seen elserwhere. It is that rail infrastructure should be nationalized while private operators remain in an open access system, similar to European countries.
What does everyone think of this model? Would this be an improvement over the current system?
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