RAIL PLANNING: A STATE VIEWPOINT

The purposes and objectives of the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973; its planning requirements; and the planning efforts of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, other northeastern and midwestern states, and various federal agencies in response to that legislation are described. Also included are a description and criticism of the report of February 1, 1974, by the U.S. Department of Transportation in response to the rail reorganization act. Attention is focused on the 17-state Conference of States on Regional Rail Reorganization, its formation and purposes, and its adopted resolutions and positions on rail reorganization planning by the U.S. Railway Association. This paper concludes that federal rail planning is defective because it places undue emphasis on abandonment of excess trackage as the solution to the railroad problem and uses fully allocated system cost rather than avoidable costs for evaluation of branch- line viability. The paper points out that federal rail planning has given insufficient consideration to future potential of the rail mode in moving persons and goods and to energy, environmental, and social needs of communities for continued rail service. Attention is focused on the harmful effects on competition and efficieny that may arise if federal rail reorganization efforts lead to one large single reorganized entity serving the entire northeast-midwest region. /Author/

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1976/582/582-005.pdf
• Summary URL:
  • https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=RAIL+PLANNING%3A+A+STATE+VIEWPOINT&author=J.+Kinstlinger&publication_year=1976
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/030902496X
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on State Multimodal Transportation Planning. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Kinstlinger, Jack
• Conference:
  • 54th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia
  • Date: 1975-1-13 to 1975-1-17
• Publication Date: 1976

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 50-60
• Monograph Title: Innovations in Transportation System Planning
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 582
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Abandonment; Branch lines; Communities; Competition; Conferences; Costs; Economic efficiency; Electric potential; Federal government; Government agencies; Governments; Laws; Planning; Profitability; Railroad tracks; Railroad transportation; Regional planning; Socioeconomic factors; State departments of transportation; States; Transportation planning
• Identifier Terms: Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
• Uncontrolled Terms: Agencies; Efficiency; Potential
• Geographic Terms: Pennsylvania; United States
• Old TRIS Terms: Government planning; Regional rail reorganization act; State planning; State rail plan
• Subject Areas: Economics; Finance; Highways; Law; Planning and Forecasting; Railroads; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00141285
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 030902496X
• Report/Paper Numbers: Conf Paper
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Nov 17 1976 12:00AM