Railway Track & Structures - June 2008 - (Page 17)

NRCChairman’s Column NRC testifies to Congress on rail legislation Manny Ramirez Chairman every type of rail infrastructure work imaginable - from design and engineering to basic construction and maintenance to highly specialized and custom jobs. Work includes laying new rail, rail welding, rail grinding and surfacing, ballast distribution, tie insertion and removal, grade crossings, signal systems, switches, turnouts, rerailments, bridge maintenance and the list goes on. “NRC members serve every type of track owner, including Class 1 railroads, shortline and regional railroads, industrial track owners, the United States military, port facilities and terminals and rail transit agencies operating light rail systems, street cars, subways, metro systems and commuter rail operations. “As the railroad industry has grown dramatically since deregulation by the Staggers Act in 1980, the size of the railroad contractor and supplier community has grown in proportion. There are now more than 650 independent railroad contracting companies in the United States performing more than $10 billion worth of rail infrastructure construction and maintenance work every year. “Our rail freight system is widely regarded as the world’s most efficient, and is a major contributor to the economic competitiveness of American industry. In addition, moving freight and people by rail is environmentally friendly. Railroads are three to four times more fuel efficient than trucks on a freight ton mile basis. And moving people by rail transit on public transportation systems has an equally dramatic effect. By taking existing public rail transportation instead of driving a car, a single person saves 4,800 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per year. “Investments into rail transit systems also have the benefit of encouraging more efficient and environmentally sound land-use patterns and facilitating high-density economic development focused around rail transit stations. And both freight rail and passenger rail play a crucial role in taking cars and trucks off the road and decongesting our crowded highway system. “Despite all of the benefits of rail transportation, we have a major problem staring us in the face. We are running out of capacity, and it’s going to get much worse unless we start fixing the problem as soon as possible. “The NRC believes that Congress should use the opportunity of the next transportation reauthorization legislation to completely revamp transportation law in this country. As many of the leaders of this Committee believe and have stated publicly, the next transportation reauthorization legislation should not be incremental in nature – it should be transformational. “Specifically, we support: • The adoption of the proposed Freight Rail Infrastructure Capacity Expansion Act (H.R. 2116/S.1125), which provides a 25percent tax credit for rail infrastructure investments that would expand capacity. • The extension of the Short Line Railroad Rehabilitation Tax Credit (H.R.1584/S.881), which provides a 50-percent tax credit for railroad rehabilitation spending to preserve the viability of short line and regional railroads as feeder lines for the national rail network. • The creation and funding of a national freight transportation program and surface transportation trust fund that would be mode-neutral and direct federal funding towards projects on a strictly merit-based approach. • Strong federal support of public-private partnerships such as the Alameda Corridor, Chicago CREATE, and the Orlando commuter rail/CSXT deal. • A major increase in investment into intercity passenger rail, with reform of the current Amtrak system. • Innovative financial tools and programs such as TIFIA are already working well, and they should be expanded. The RRIF loan program is under-utilized by the railroads because of the unnecessary length of time it takes to process an application due to institutional opposition to the program in the OMB. The program should be expanded and improved and OMB opposition neutralized. • The project delivery process must be reformed by significantly shortening the time it takes to complete reviews and obtain permits. • Grow the current federal transit program in size, while maintaining the overall structure and funding guarantee system. “If Congress adopts these proposals, there will be a dramatic increase in investment into the nation’s rail infrastructure, and a corresponding expansion of rail capacity. The question then naturally arises as to whether or not the railroads and the independent construction, maintenance, and supply industries could handle all of this increased work. The answer is, ‘yes’.” As always, I ask that you keep the men and women in uniform in your hearts and prayers. Railway Track & Structures June 2008 17 The National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association, Inc. 500 New Jersey Ave., N. W. Suite 400 Washington D. C. 20009 Tel: 202-715-2920 Fax: 202-318-0867 www.nrcma.org info@nrcma.org Last month, the NRC was asked to testify to Congress in front of the Railroad Subcommittee of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. The subject of the hearing was rail capacity. Jim Daloisio, president of Railroad Construction Company of South Jersey and a former chairman of the Board of the NRC, delivered the testimony. The other witnesses on the panel were the president of the AAR, Ed Hamberger, the president of Amtrak, Alex Kummant, the chief executive officer of the Virginia Railway Express commuter rail system, Dale Zehner, the chief engineer of the Port of Long Beach, Al Moro, the chairman of the Idaho Barley Commission, Evan Hayes, and the principal engineer of the Arkansas Electric Cooperative, Steve Sharp. Jim did an excellent job of urging Congress to expand its investment into rail infrastructure for the good of our economy, environment, safety and security. And Jim assured the Committee that railroad contractors are able and prepared to do the necessary work. The hearing was the perfect opportunity to present the NRC legislative agenda to Congress, and we will be following up on that agenda aggressively over the next year. I’d like to point out some highlights of Jim’s testimony here: “The NRC is the national trade association representing the independent railroad construction and supply industry. The NRC has more than 200 member companies, with employees in all 50 U.S. States and each of the Canadian provinces. NRC members perform www.rtands.com http://www.nrcma.org http://www.nrcma.org http://www.rtands.com

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Railway Track & Structures - June 2008 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Grade Crossings Provide Interface Between Railroads, Public Grade-Crossing Equipment & Materials Guide Fastener Suppliers Getting a Grip Grinding Plays Part in Rail Maintenance Big Picture Products and Literature People Calendar Sales Representatives Website Directory Advertisers Index Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - June 2008

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