| Introduction
|| Current Issues || Safety |
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| Class I railroad freight volume in 1998 was 1.38 trillion ton-miles. U.S.
railroads hauled nearly 26 million carloads of freight in 1998, including nearly 8.8
million intermodal trailers and containers. Intermodal volume has nearly tripled since
1980. Class I railroads operated 20,261 locomotives in 1998 which hauled a fleet of
1,315,667 freight cars with an aggregate capacity of 127.8 million tons -- an increase of
18 percent since 1990. It would take three million trucks to equal the capacity of the
rail car fleet. Source: Association of American Railroads, Rail Facts & Statistics |
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| Major current issues in rail freight include safety, and the remnants of defining the role of government in rate setting. By 1994, the Nation had experienced four consecutive years in which more than 1,000 people were either killed or seriously injured while trespassing on railroad property other than at rail-highway crossings. In 1995, 494 people were killed and 461 people were seriously injured while trespassing on railroad property other than at rail-highway grade crossings. Congress passed the Federal Railroad Safety Authorization Act of 1994 (49 U.S.C. § 20151) (Safety Act), which requires the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with State and local governments and railroad carriers, to develop and make available to State and local governments model State legislation covering trespassing and vandalism on railroad property. A summary of the development of the model State railroad trespass and vandalism bills and highlights of the bills is available at Model State Legislation for Railroad Trespass & Railroad Vandalism from Office of Chief Counsel of the Federal Railway Administration. | ||||
| Other issues include continuation of rail service issues. Some of these are illustrated in current STB Publications. For example, see OVERVIEW- Abandonments & Alternatives to Abandonments, or So You Want to Start a Small Railroad. | ||||
| Passage of the economic deregulation legislation for railroads, the Staggers Rail Act of 1980, was followed by record train density levels and freight railroad traffic. Simultaneously, substantial safety improvements, measured in terms of number of railroad accidents, accident rate per million train miles, and fatalities and injuries have taken place. The Federal Railroad Administration monitors railroad compliance with federally mandated safety standards, with 400 inspectors operating from 47 offices around the United States. | ||||
| SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD The Surface Transportation Board (STB) is an independent adjudicatory body administratively housed within the Department of Transportation, responsible for the economic regulation of interstate surface transportation, primarily railroads, within the United States. The STB's mission is to ensure that competitive, efficient, and safe transportation services are provided to meet the needs of shippers, receivers, and consumers. |
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| The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent Federal agency charged by Congress with investigating all civil aviation accidents in the United States, and significant accidents involving railroads, highways, marine accidents and pipelines. Federal, state and local authorities and various segments of the industry usually participate in the investigation of major accidents. The NTSB determines the probable cause of accidents, and issues safety recommendations aimed at preventing future accidents. The National Transportation Safety Board Railroad section includes information about major railway mishaps. | ||||
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| The Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act of 1995 continued
deregulatory movement started with the Staggers Rail Act of 1980. The ICC Termination Act
eliminated many provisions and created Surface Transportation Board (STB) to administer
limited regulatory responsibilities that remained. Congress requires periodic
reauthorization of Surface Transportation Board, to reappraise rapid change in railroad
industry. The Department of Transportation attempts to balance the interests of the railroads, railroad employees, shippers, and communities. Railroads must have the ability and incentive to continue to invest, increasing productivity and expanding capacity. At the same time, the public interest and concerns of shippers and communities, which may be quite divergent, are considered. Recently the railroad industry has consolidated through mergers, to become six major railroads. The Department of Transportation has taken the position that these carriers are of such a size and serve such a large geographic area that the Department of Justice should be given primary responsibility for railroad mergers, but would retain for the Surface Transportation Board those considerations of public interest that it is best equipped to address. Source: Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater, in a transmittal letter concerning the Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act of 1999. See Office of Chief Counsel, Federal Railway Administration. |
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| Interesting perspectives of the major issues are available from a leading freight railway organization, the Association of American Railroads. In particular, see AAR Position Papers, covering contested issues such as BOTTLENECK RATE SCHEMES, and DIFFERENTIAL PRICING. Also included are many safety issues, which are important to everyone. | ||||
| American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association is a trade association that represents the interests of 425 short line and regional railroad members in legislative and regulatory matters. A consolidation of the American Short Line Railroad Association and Regional Railroads of America, the association was formed in 1998. Short line and regional railroads are an important and growing component of the rail-road industry. Today, these railroads operate and maintain 29 percent of the American railroad industry's route mileage and account for 9 percent of the rail industry's freight revenue and 11 percent of railroad employment. American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association | ||||
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