Targeted Rail Investments Enable Efficient Transportation.

[elleng]

((Sounds like major rail carriers/AAR are NOT with Dem's programs. Are truckers? - Haven't read thoroughly. - NOT good this major sector is anti-Dem. HOPE Secy. Pete will/can address this.))

'The pandemic has challenged supply chains, with many common consumer and industrial goods experiencing chronic delays, roiling the availability of everyday items.

While multiple modes of freight transport have struggled to adjust, freight rail has remained resilient. Freight railroads are working hard to overcome supply chain disruptions thanks to their 24/7 operations and ongoing private investments.

However, proposed regulations such as those mandating “forced switching” or “forced access” would imperil this performance, threaten investment and reduce fluidity. Under forced access, privately owned and maintained railroads — which have invested in infrastructure and other assets to serve customers — could be forced to use those assets for the benefit of another railroad that is taking that customer away. If a railroad has to allow a competitor to use the infrastructure it has paid for, its incentive to install the infrastructure in the first place would be reduced. The entire supply chain would suffer if this happened. It would also undermine the economic, environmental and transportation goals of the administration.

It’s never a good time to implement unwise and unnecessary regulations. Americans are counting on freight rail to keep supply chains running, and now is a terrible time to consider imposing restrictions on an industry that is so critical to our economy. Recent polling shows that 8 in 10 American adults agree that the private freight rail industry is vital to the economy. Here are just a few ways railroads benefit the American public:

Unlike many other modes of transport, freight rail relies on its investments, not government subsidies. . . .

While freight rail spends approximately $25 billion per year on infrastructure and equipment, competing modes rely on extensive subsidies, both explicit and in the form of negative externalities to the public. Freight rail’s infrastructure investments serve freight and support Amtrak, with approximately 70% of Amtrak trains running on tracks owned by freight railroads.'>>>

https://www.aar.org/article/targeted-rail-investments-enable-efficient-transportation/?

[OnDoutside]

1. They haven't explained what their issue is with forced switching or

forced access, apart from the threat that they would not invest if they were forced to then share the infrastructure they built.

On a side note, back 20 years ago or so in Ireland, the government at the time were big into copying the trend of privatisation of public utilities, and sold off the national telecom company. Unfortunately they not only sold the company but they sold the national infrastructure with it. This came back to bite us when it came to broadband infrastructure, because this privatised company refused to invest for fear of having to share the infrastructure they invested in, with 3rd party companies. We lost 15 years because of it.

Obviously this is sabre rattling by the private rail companies but it might be clarifying to have the government side of the story.

[elleng]

2. Competition's the issue;

access has always been critical, lots of fights about such.

[OnDoutside]

3. Competition in terms of service, definitely. The hard lesson they

learned in Ireland is that it's better for the infrastructure to be publicly owned and then bulk leased out to private and semi private providers. Thankfully that's what has happened with our electricity grid.