Sticking up for our side

As regular readers of this column know, I have a strong faith in the fundamental strengths of our industry. I’ve often said that we’re sitting at the beginning of a tremendous rail renaissance in which the industry will rise to some of the heights it achieved by the turn of the last century. I may not survive long enough to see it all happen, but I believe there are many people already working in our industry who will.

The railroad industry offers advantages no competitor can match, from fuel efficiency to use of space to taxpayer friendliness. And I see the railroad renaissance lifting many other industries that now depend or could come to depend on railroads. An advanced railroad system would make this a stronger nation. But I also see lots of friction.

I know it will take capital, vision, education and training and leadership. But it’s going to take real nitty-gritty political skills to bring the railroad renaissance into existence.

The angry outpouring from some residents here in Northeastern Illinois over the proposed CN acquisition of most of the EJ&E’s assets is a good example of what I’m talking about. To listen to some of the diatribes, you’d think the CN was about to descend from the steppes like a horde of rampaging Mongols to pillage and burn all the communities from Waukegan, Ill., to Gary, Ind. To say the opponents leaned on local elected officials at all levels is like saying an elephant leaned on an ant. It’s hard for the politicians to use logic because logic really hasn’t come up in most of the discussions I’ve heard.

If this merger succeeds, and I really hope it does, it’s going to take lots of reverse pressure from people like many of us who see the need and the tremendous advantages and support it. We have to write notes to our elected officials, letters to the editor and the blogs and commentary sections to let people know this isn’t all one-sided.

And this battle will be repeated over and over across the continent as railroads come out from the funk that’s plagued them for many decades. There will be more trains. Period. Some figures I’ve seen indicate that rail traffic will double in the next 20-to-30 years. Some say it will increase even more.

And that’s only freight traffic. There are dozens and dozens of schemes to add passenger traffic, from local light rail to regional or national high-speed passenger service. Too many of those schemes simply want to overlay passenger service on top of freight traffic with little or no upgrading of the lines. We all know that simply won’t work.

To meet increased traffic, freight or passenger or both, railroads are going to have to open up lines that have been all but abandoned, and perhaps some that have been abandoned, add double and triple track, build yards and intermodal facilities, set up locomotive servicing and car repair facilities, and on and on.

That’s good for the railroads and the companies that supply goods and services to railroads, but what about the folks who don’t want the railroad as a neighbor? Sure, I know that when you buy a home near the railroad, you take your chances. Do you think that will stop people from complaining or putting pressure on elected officials? It sure hasn’t stopped them yet.

The people trying to stop railroad expansion will have the ear of local elected officials. Who will state the railroads case? Yes, there are professionals who do that kind of work, but, at the grass roots level, it will be up to folks like you and me to carry the load.

They say freight doesn’t vote. But we do. That’s why we have to make sure all the elected officials know both sides of any railroad issue. There will always be people shouting loudly against any change in the railroad environment, from reactivating a line to closing a grade crossing. If we can make reasoned statements about the benefits offered, then there’s a good chance that our side may win the day.

Besides, if we don’t go to bat for our own industry, who will?