Railway Track & Structures - November 2007 - (Page 3)

ON TRACK Vol. 103, No. 11 USPS # 860-560 ISSN # 00339016 EDITORIAL OFFICES 20 South Clark Street, Suite 2450 Chicago, Ill. 60603 Telephone (312) 683-0130 Fax (312) 683-0131 Website www.rtands.com More on reregulation onopoly, anyone? Whenever shippers, particularly those with a bit of clout, want to lower costs, they start blathering about the railroads’ monopoly and how much harm it inflicts on poor little companies like themselves. As a former Monopoly addict (the Parker Brothers’ version, not the economic structure), I have to say that we as railroaders would never do well at this game. Shippers do complain that so-called “monopolistic practices” are costing them a bundle, but they have no reply to the fact that most rail rates are actually lower than they were before people in Congress finally came to their senses and deregulated the industry. Regulation came within a hair’s breadth of destroying the railroad industry. ICC lawyers and rate sharks and massive bureaucracies on both the state and federal levels all were supported by regulation. Now these folks have gone on to other pursuits and the money saved continues to give shippers a break on rates and allows railroads to invest heavily in vital capital projects to allow the industry to not only survive, but to expand capacity to meet the anticipated demands of the decades ahead. Yes, it can be frustrating dealing with railroads. I know this as well as anybody else. Sometimes the service is poor. Sometimes the rates seem high. But service was often poor under regulation, too. And rates were insane. If I recall correctly, railroads, for example, would publish a rate. Then, no matter what, shippers would object. This would crank up the ponderous bureaucratic process where the ICC would ever-so-slowly review the rates until, probably, they would OK them. Then the process would be repeated on the intrastate level. Months or even years could pass before a new rate could come into play. Meanwhile, shippers paid the former, lower rates. The ICC was an incredible bureaucracy after well over a century of adding rules and procedures. Someone once described trying to cover the ICC for the media by saying, “You could go in there alert and full of energy and be asleep standing up against the wall in five minutes.” Experts testified before Congress that U.S. freight rates are among the lowest in the world. The cost to move one ton one mile in the U.S. can be as little as 10 percent of the cost in other countries. And that’s without massive taxpayer subsidies, which are the norm in the rest of the world. I agree with the complainers that the North American railroad industry is far from perfect. But, if they succeed in reregulating the railroad industry, year-byyear, more rules and regulations will be added until the whole mass of red tape hogties the entire industry once again. If anyone thinks there’s bad service now, try looking into a crystal ball to see what service will probably look like after a successful reegulation push has been in effect for a number of years. To reregulators, I can only repeat what I’ve written before: Be very, very careful what you wish for. You just might get it. George S. Sokulski/Associate Publisher Tom Judge/Editor, tjudge@sbpubchicago.com Wanda Welty/Managing Editor Mischa Wanek-Libman/Assistant Editor, mischa@sbpub-chicago.com Susan Taylor/Editorial Assistant M CORPORATE OFFICES 345 Hudson Street New York, N.Y. 10014 Telephone (212) 620-7200 Fax (212) 633-1165 Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr./ President and Chairman Robert P. DeMarco/Publisher Mary Conyers-Brown/Production Director Barbara DiGirolamo/Production Manager Maureen Cooney/Circulation Director Jane Poterala/Conference Director Robert G. Lewis/Director of Special Projects For reprint information, contact: PARS International Corp. 212-221-9595; Fax 212-221-9195 RT&S, Railway Track and Structures is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp., 345 Hudson Street, New York, N.Y. 10014. ISSN: 0033-8916. Canada Post Cust.#7204564; Agreement #41094515. Bleuchip Int'l, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Periodical Class postage paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. Subscription price to railroad employees only in U.S. possessions, Canada and Mexico, Print or Digital version: $16 one year; $30 two years (all others $39.50 one year; $73 two years). All other countries, $68 one year ($168 for air mail); $120 two years ($320 for air mail). Both Print and Digital versions: $24 one year; $45 two years (all others $60 one year; $110 two years). All other countries, $102 one year ($202 for air mail); $180 two years ($380 for air mail). Single copies $8.50. Track Buyer’s Guide $21. All rates are payable in advance. The publisher reserves the right to increase subscription rates without notice. Call toll-free 1-800-895-4389 (or 402-346-4740) Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Central Time to place an order. Copyright 2007. Customer Service: Address all correspondence to: Subscription Department, RT&S, P.O. Box 10, Omaha, NE 68101-0010. Changes of address should reach us three weeks in advance of the next issue date. Send old address with new, enclosing, if possible, your address label. The Post Office will not forward copies unless you provide extra postage. Duplicate copies cannot be sent. POSTMASTER: Send change of address forms to RT&S, Railway Track and Structures, P.O. Box 10, Omaha, NE 68101-0010. Tom Judge, Editor A SIMMONS-BOARDMAN RAIL GROUP PUBLICATION www.rtands.com Railway Track & Structures November 2007 3 http://www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com

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Railway Track & Structures - November 2007 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Seattle Retrofits Downtown Transit Tunnel Switch Stand, Switch Machines Planning M/W with Modern, High-Tech Tools Products & Literature People Calendar Advertisers Index Sales Representatives Website Directory Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - November 2007

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