cartky.org

"Global Trade, Fuel Costs Add Up To Expansion for Once-Dying Industry"

The Washington Post scores again with this summary of the boom in the RR industry:

The freight railway industry is enjoying its biggest building boom in nearly a century, a turnaround as abrupt as it is ambitious. It is largely fueled by growing global trade and rising fuel costs for 18-wheelers. In 2002, the major railroads laid off 4,700 workers; in 2006, they hired more than 5,000.

...

The zeitgeist has even dropped a "green" gift in the industry's lap. A train can haul a ton of freight 423 miles on one gallon of diesel fuel, about a 3-to-1 fuel efficiency advantage over 18-wheelers, and the railroad industry is increasingly touting itself as an eco-friendly alternative. Trucking firms also use the rail lines; UPS is the railroad industry's biggest customer.

However, the article goes on to outline some challenges. It looks like the eternal battle between government regulation and the industry is heating up again. Ah, the history of it all.

Hat tip to Portland Transport, which goes on to suggest that if the industry wants the Gubmint to foot the bill for 33% of it's expansion costs, then maybe the Gubmint should have a say in how the expansion is done, by mandating electrified lines like in other modern countries.