AN OVERVIEW OF THE RAIL INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

This paper, along with a companion working, resulted from collaborative work of an economist from Poland and an economist from the United States of America (USA) that compares the railroad industries of Poland and the USA.The companion working paper is Part A entitled, "An Overview of the Rail Industry in Poland: 1975Poland: -1984."."This paper almost exclusively focuses on the rail industry in the USA.The paper attempts to provide a picture of the role and nature of the rail industry in the USA for transportation economists not familiar with the trans- portation industries in the USA.The interrelationships between rail firms in the private sector and the government sector are analyzed.The cost and operational characteristics of rail firms are discussed.Selected important policy and managerial issues such as improving labor productivity and proposed legislation to reestablish some of the regulations eliminated in 1980 are briefly discussed.