harl222000
Train Attendant
The following article by Pat Foran appears on the Web site Progressive Railroading today. February 10, 2009.
What's needed for rail to gain from stimulus
The word "infrastructure" has wended its way into the Washington vernacular to such an extent that it just might blend in with the policy-wonk woodwork. Consultants study the ins and outs of North America's congested highways and (someday) crowded freight-rail mainlines, issuing reports and predictions with increasing frequency and noting, dutifully, that rail is three times more fuel efficient than truck transport. In Congress, lawmakers now line up to serve on committees that feature the "I" word as an adjective, www.progressiverailroading.com reports.
"They're talking about infrastructure in a much broader scope, and with a much greater sense of urgency, than I've seen or heard -- perhaps ever," says National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) President Bruce Carlton, who has three dozen years of experience working on domestic and international freight transportation issues. "Transportation infrastructure seems to be on everybody's 'to-do' list."
Including the new president's. In addition to welcoming the Obama Administration's aim to boost the economy by rebuilding bridges, rethinking the electricity grid and perhaps reconsidering the way the country moves people and goods, rail proponents couldn't help noting the 137-mile train trip President-Elect Barack Obama took to his inauguration last month as nothing short of symbolic.
"Maybe it's a good sign," mused Railway Supply Institute President Tom Simpson a couple days before the Obama Express left the station in Philadelphia.
But signs and symbols leave too much to the imagination, too much to interpretation. Today's rail proponents want more. It's no longer enough for rail to have a seat at the policy-shaping table.
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