Congressmen offer caution on rail regulation

Congressmen offer caution on rail regulation    The chairmen and ranking member of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee have written to the Surface Transportation Board chairman expressing concerns about hearings to assess rail competition and review traffic exemptions.

Mica

   “Any policy change made by STB which restricts the railroads abilities to invest, grow their networks and meet the nation’s freight transportation demands will be opposed by the committee,” said the letter to Chairman Daniel R. Elliott, signed by John Mica, R-Fla., and Nick Rahall, D-W.V., the chairman and ranking member of the T&I committee, as well as Bill Shuster, R-Pa., and Corrine Brown, D-Fla., chairman and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, & Hazardous Materials.
   The four said in the Jan. 24 letter they wanted to “express our collective view about the importance of the freight rail industry as a critical component of our nation’s transportation system, and impress upon you the importance of maintaining the existing regulatory balance between the railroads and shippers.”

Elliott

   Elliott said Jan. 11 a public hearing would be held May 3 to explore railroad industry competition and possible policy initiatives to promote more rail-to-rail competition.
   The letter from the four congressmen was sent the day before Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.V., reintroduced a bill to reregulate the railroad industry in a way that he said would increase competition, helping consumers and shippers.

Rockefeller

   That bill, the Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act of 2011, is similar to a bill introduced in December 2009, and is opposed by the American Association of Railroads (AAR).
   “As it is written, we believe the bill threatens the freight railroads’ ability to sustain $20 billion in annual private capital infrastructure investments used to build, maintain and grow America’s national rail network — which benefits passengers and freight customers alike,” said Holly Arthur, an AAR spokesperson, told American Shipper. ‘ Chris Dupin