Railway Track & Structures - May 2008 - (Page 26)

State of the NRC ture. The RRIF program was enacted in 1998 and no railroad has ever missed a single RRIF loan payment. The OMB should be treating RRIF as the poster child for federal loan programs, not prolonging the time it takes to secure one. The program should be expanded and improved. RT&S: How about future plans for your legislative program? Baker: It is my personal goal to make NRC a leading voice in Washington on all issues relating to federal funding for rail infrastructure through a new generation of public-private partnerships. We are making progress. We did pretty well in SAFETEA-LU, but it wasn’t nearly enough. There will be an explosion of freight movement over the next 20 years. The growth cannot and will not be matched by an expansion in highway capacity. The bottom line is that, I believe, there is going to be a continuing boom in the freight railroad and transit construction market in the next decade. Much of this investment in rail infrastructure will be done by the private sector, but we absolutely need the support of the federal government in the same way that the highway and air modes get support. The next transportation reauthorization bill, the successor to SAETEALU, is approaching in 2009. Various transportation interests are beginning to gear up for that debate, and we will be working with many of them to get a bill that does a much better job of guiding federal investment into rail infrastructure. We plan to work closely with the AAR, ASLRRA, APTA, AASHTO, AGC, ARTBA, RTA and many others. In fact, as we speak, Jim Daloisio of the Railroad Construction Company of South Jersey, who is a former chairman of the NRC, is preparing to testify to Congress on the issue of rail capacity. We will be urging Congress to expand their investment into rail infrastructure for the good of our economy, environment, safety and security. And we will be assuring them railroad contractors are able and prepared to do the work. RT&S: Where does the NRC stand visà-vis Amtrak? Baker: A few years ago we had an In January 2008, NRC staged another successful conference, including a sold-out trade show. Finally, the NRC has been an aggressive and, hopefully, constructive actor in the debate on the pending federal rail safety bill. As Manny indicated, maintaining the safest working environment possible is our top priority and there are many portions of the pending legislation that work toward that goal. There are, however, some provisions that I believe have more to do with politics than with safety and that is a disappointment. The most obvious is the provision placing signal contractors under the Hours of Service Act. That is not going to contribute anything to safety, and instead is just going to contribute to increased costs. And the fact is that those increased costs mean less investment in track repairs, which is what contributes the most to improved safety. Ramirez: “Kudos” must be given to Keith Hartwell of Chambers, Conlon & Hartwell and to our Past President Ray Chambers, who was a mentor to our current NRC President Chuck Baker. CC&H, our government affairs firm in Washington, had the vision of the NRC as a major force in D.C., and has guided the NRC to another level. In his tenure so far, Chuck has proven to be an effective conference manager and representative of the NRC in D.C. Together, they have made the NRC a recognizable organization, in both the political world and the rail, commuter and transit industries. This is evidenced by the 600-plus people in attendance at our conference in January and the willingness of high-level industry leader speakers from throughout the field to speak at the conference. Another indication that the NRC has arrived is the growing number of invitations received from politicians and federal agencies to participate in their Congressional hearings and advisory committees. RT&S: What is the status of the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program? Baker: RRIF, the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program, is a valuable infrastructure program that is underutilized by the railroads. RRIF provides low interest, 25-year money for railroad rehabilitation and construction. The FRA has approved 20 RRIF loans for a combined total of $743 million. One of the reasons the program is underutilized is the unnecessary length of time it takes to process an application, due to institutional opposition to the program in the OMB. The OMB should not oppose a successful program that would increase rail capacity and investment into track infrastruc- 26 Railway Track & Structures May 2008 www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com

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Railway Track & Structures - May 2008

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