AAR lauds FRA Preliminary National Rail Plan

Written by jrood

The Association of American Railroads applauded the Federal Railroad Administration's Preliminary National Rail Plan and its recognition that freight rail's investment in infrastructure maintenance and capacity enhancements meets national safety, reliability and capacity needs.

"This preliminary
plan is an excellent first step in developing a longer-range national rail plan
that ensures the U.S. freight rail system continues to be the safest, most
efficient and cost effective in the world," said AAR President and CEO
Edward R. Hamberger. 

In its plan, FRA
highlighted the many achievements of freight rail since being partially
deregulated in 1980.  In addition to significant safety and energy
efficiency improvements, FRA cited freight rail’s inherent efficiency as the
reason the industry has been able to build and maintain its own infrastructure,
add capacity, host passenger operations and pay hundreds of millions of dollars
in local property taxes to communities all around the country.

"Railroads are eager
to meet the freight and passenger transportation challenges of the 21st
century, and having a national rail plan will allow us to set policies that
ensure success," said Hamberger.  "We look forward to working
with FRA as they meet with rail stakeholders around the country to address the
many important issues outlined in the plan’s framework, including cost equity,
safety technologies and energy efficiency." 

The full preliminary
National Rail Plan is available on FRA’s Web site:
http://www.fra.dot.gov/Downloads/RailPlanPrelim10-15.pdf

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