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/