ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSPORTATION IMPACTS OF RAILROAD BRANCHLINE ABANDONMENT IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS

Railroad abandonment has several potentially adverse consequences for Kansas farmers, rail shippers, and rural communities including the following: lower grain prices received by Kansas farmers; higher transportation costs and reduced profits for rail shippers; loss of market options for Kansas shippers; foreclosed economic development options in rural Kansas communities; higher road maintenance and reconstruction costs; and negative social impacts on rural Kansas communities. This study has the following objectives: (A) measure trends in the use of rail and motor carriers service by shippers located on south central Kansas branchlines; (B) determine the destinations of products shipped from communities on south central Kansas branchlines; (C) determine the origins of products received by shippers located on south central Kansas branchlines; (D) measure the transportation cost changes experienced by rural south central Kansas shippers as a result of abandonment, assuming the same origins and destinations identified in B and C; (E) identify foreclosed economic development options for communities that lose rail service; (F) measure the public costs of rail abandonment in south central Kansas; and (G) assess the indirect impacts on the social structure that branchline abandonment may have on rural communities in south central Kansas. The results of the study are presented in nine chapters: (1) Introduction; (2) Abandonment Procedures and Kansas Abandonments; (3) Characteristics of the Study Area; (4) Trends in Railroad and Motor Carrier Market Shares; (5) Impact of Abandonment on Transportation Costs of Santa Fe Branchline Shippers; (6) Effect of Railroad Abandonment on Rural Economic Development; (7) Railroad Abandonment and Road Damage Costs; (8) Indirect Impacts on Community Social Structure Resulting from Branchline Abandonment; and (9) Conclusions and Recommendations.

• Corporate Authors:

  Kansas State University, Manhattan

  Department of Civil Engineering, Fiedler Hall
  Manhattan, KS  United States  66506

  Kansas Department of Transportation

  Docking State Office Building
  Topeka, KS  United States  66612
• Authors:
  • Babcock, M W
  • Russell, E R
  • Burns, R E
• Publication Date: 1992-2

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 199 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Abandonment; Branch lines; Costs; Economic development; Economic impacts; Highway maintenance; Railroads; Recommendations; Shipping; Social impacts
• Geographic Terms: Kansas
• Subject Areas: Economics; Finance; Highways; Marine Transportation; Railroads; Research; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00624817
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: KSU-91-2
• Files: TRIS, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Aug 20 1996 12:00AM