A renaissance for railroads

[Save Our Trains Michigan]

http://www.utu.org/worksite/detail_news.cfm?ArticleID=31180

A renaissance for railroads WASHINGTON -- Railroad traffic is growing worldwide at such a rate that most of the rail systems in the industrialized world are stressed to carry all the freight and passenger traffic being pressed on them, according to this report by Don Phillips published by the International Herald Tribune.

So across the world, corporations and countries are spending large sums of money to keep up with the demand.

David Briginshaw, the editor of The International Railway Journal, said in an opinion article in the October issue, "The outlook for rail has never been better than during the period when most of the world's railways were first constructed."

For the first time, the journal said, the annual market for railroad equipment, infrastructure and technology will soon surpass €100 billion, or $125 billion, if it has not already done so.

In 2003, the latest year for which figures could be assembled, the German company SCI Verkehr estimated that the total was €97 billion.

In that year, the market for railroad locomotives, cars and other rail vehicles accounted for 61 percent of total spending. But infrastructure was the fastest growing market at 32 percent, led by new rail lines and line upgrades in the Middle East and Asia.

In terms of total spending, Europe led with €34.2 billion. The United States spent the equivalent of €20.5 billion and Asia €20 billion. Most of the European money is going to passenger traffic, including a new high- speed line from Paris to Frankfurt, but much of the rest of the world's spending is for freight traffic.

For the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has begun spending significant amounts of money to modernize its neglected railroads -- €8.9 billion in 2005 -- although economists warn that significantly more will be necessary to keep up with growing demand and avoid creating an inevitable drag on the Russian economy.

Russia has begun a program to upgrade and partly privatize state- owned railroads, with Russian Railways being separated from the Ministry of Railways and with private investment being allowed.

Freight and passenger traffic is growing in Russia, where suburban passenger traffic in urban areas soared by 43 percent last year.

In the United States, the surprise has been in freight traffic, which began to surge in late 2002 and has not let up. One factor is that freight rates have fallen so low that it is often cheaper to cross an ocean to Asia to turn raw material into finished products than it is to build a nearby factory.

Railroads in the United States have also been greatly aided by crowded highways and a shortage of truck drivers. And even trucks are often hauled long distance on railroad "intermodal" trains. In China, highways are so inadequate that freight usually travels mainly by rail.

U.S. rail lines are spending billions of dollars each year for new freight capacity but are still hard- pressed to keep up. Spending rose from $6.4 billion in 2005 to an estimated $8.3 billion this year, according to the Association of American Railroads.

Matthew Rose, the chairman of Burlington Northern Santa Fe, which runs one of the four major U.S. railroads, recently took transportation reporters on a tour of his railroad.

He surprised everyone with a plan to increase freight haulage between the Port of Los Angeles and Chicago. Rose said the line, which handled train traffic just fine for more than a century with long stretches of only one track and sidings, would eventually become a three-track main line all the way.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe is spending $2.6 billion on capital investment in 2006 alone. Many other railroads are adding capacity in a similar fashion.

 

[frj1983]

What makes the capacity situation even worse:

is that during the 80's many railroads got rid of trackage (either by removal or selling) to save money in the short term and are now paying for it in the long term!

 

[DaveKCMO]

He surprised everyone with a plan to increase freight haulage between the Port of Los Angeles and Chicago. Rose said the line, which handled train traffic just fine for more than a century with long stretches of only one track and sidings, would eventually become a three-track main line all the way.

i assume this is the same line that the southwest chief uses?

 

[AlanB]

He surprised everyone with a plan to increase freight haulage between the Port of Los Angeles and Chicago. Rose said the line, which handled train traffic just fine for more than a century with long stretches of only one track and sidings, would eventually become a three-track main line all the way.

i assume this is the same line that the southwest chief uses?

For part of it's run, yes. But the Chief doesn't follow the BNSF transcon the whole way to Chicago.

 

[EmpireBuilderFan1976]

What is really a shame is that all of the US Railroad companies don't follow BNSF's business model. They seem to have the best track and least congestion problems. In recent years they have replaced alot of the trackage that the Empire Builder uses. The result is the Empire Builder cruising along at the maximum allowed speed for a good majority of the trip. And in alot of areas feeling like you are gliding ABOVE the tracks!

 

[frj1983]

What is really a shame is that all of the US Railroad companies don't follow BNSF's business model. They seem to have the best track and least congestion problems. In recent years they have replaced alot of the trackage that the Empire Builder uses. The result is the Empire Builder cruising along at the maximum allowed speed for a good majority of the trip. And in alot of areas feeling like you are gliding ABOVE the tracks!

That business model speaks strongly to me as BNSF is one of the Railroads that seems to get Amtrak over the road fairly close to schedule. If all the predictions say that more traffic is coming your way, it seems odd to "not" begin preparing for it.

 

[George Harris]

Railroading is a business that requires long term thinking and work. Planning only for the next quarterly report is the road to ruin.

BNSF and predecessors ATSF and BN have had a policy of trying to stay ahead of the curve for years, and tha is the only way it works. They did not wake up something like five years ago and say, hey traffic is going to surge. They have had a policy in place long before that of keeping the fixed facilities in good condition.

They also simply seem to have a much better understanding of how to keep things moving. The High Line used by the Empire Builder has about the same traffic density as the Sunset Route (IIRC), but not only is the Builder's schedule much better kept, there is also much less slack in it than in the Sunset's.

 

[frj1983]

Railroading is a business that requires long term thinking and work. Planning only for the next quarterly report is the road to ruin.
BNSF and predecessors ATSF and BN have had a policy of trying to stay ahead of the curve for years, and tha is the only way it works. They did not wake up something like five years ago and say, hey traffic is going to surge. They have had a policy in place long before that of keeping the fixed facilities in good condition.

They also simply seem to have a much better understanding of how to keep things moving. The High Line used by the Empire Builder has about the same traffic density as the Sunset Route (IIRC), but not only is the Builder's schedule much better kept, there is also much less slack in it than in the Sunset's.

Your point is well taken George,

I was just making a snarky remark aimed at UP in my response above as I understood that BNSF has been doing long range planning for years.