1 minute read
Good Work
Rail is better
Adding two new lanes in each direction on I-81 across 325 miles of western Virginia to be used only by trucks, and making I-81 a toll road to pay for the expansion, didn't sit well with residents of the I-81 Corridor. STAR Solutions, a consortium put together by Halliburton, had proposed to privatize the highway and develop what it called a concrete freightway.
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Capitalizing on resident disaffection, RAIL Solution was created in 2003 to promote a rail alternative. A Norfolk Southern rail line parallels I-81 from Harrisburg, PA to Knoxville, TN; and RAIL Solution aggressively promoted an upgrade of this rail corridor as an environmentally and economically preferred solution for managing freight growth.
Working with lots of like-minded groups and individuals up and down I-81, RAIL Solution ultimately defeated the STAR proposal. Buoyed by our success (because STAR was solidly backed by powerful highway engineering and construction lobbies and we were a grassroots upstart), we could now focus our time and treasure fulltime on rail advocacy.
Compelling energy, economic, and environmental benefits accrue to society from moving goods and people by rail; so our message has been a consistent one: as much surface freight should move by rail as possible.
RAIL Solution is a 501(c)(3) all-volunteer non-profit with no corporate or government support, relying on dues and donations from our member participants. Major advocacy campaigns include the Steel Interstate, a national system of multi-track railroad mainlines, grade-separated, electrified, and analogous to what the Eisenhower Interstate Highway system did for roads. Trucks on trains is also something strongly favored. Carrying through trucks on trains through Virginia is the one capital expenditure in the I-81 Corridor that might actually reduce the number of trucks on the highway. Such truck ferries have been widely used in Europe, but never tried in the U.S.
Rail Solution is updating its online communications and contacts; current email is railsolution@aol.com
David Foster, chairman of RAIL Solutions, addresses Buzz4good event on Jan. 6
GOOD WORK
By David Foster
Executive Summary:
RAIL Solution is an advocacy group that promotes increased utilization of railroad transportation and freight systems.
