Freight railroads to spend $12B on capital spending

The Association of American Railroads has announced the nation's freight railroads in 2011 are planning to spend a record $12 billion on capital expenditures, after setting a record with $10.7 billion in capital spending in 2010. According to the Great Expectations 2011, Railroads and Continued U.S. Economic Recovery report, these investments are potentially threatened by regulatory and legislative policies being considered in Washington, D.C. "Even during the worst recession in a generation, freight railroads have been plowing record amounts of private capital back into the rail network each and every year, achieving one of the highest capital investment rates of any U.S. industry," said AAR President and CEO Edward R. Hamberger. "A regulatory framework that provides certainty will foster continued economic recovery and job creation." While President Obama and other leaders have called upon private companies to increase capital spending and rev up hiring, the nation's freight railroads have been spending record sums of private capital on the rail network and bringing people back to work. Railroad hiring at the end of 2010 was up 5.2 percent over the year before, according to the report and railroads are positioned to hire more workers in the coming years. "The President has issued a clear call to American businesses, urging them to get off the sidelines and get back in the game by investing capital and hiring," Hamberger said. "Freight railroads have been in the game for the past 30 years, investing more than $480 billion to build and maintain America's freight rail network with private capital and supporting jobs all across the country. Freight railroads have a great track record and are ready to continue investing in the national rail network so U.S. taxpayers don't have to. But, we must have a regulatory framework that supports and does not hinder private investment."