California State Rail Plan 2005-06 to 2015-16

2005-06 – 2015-16 California State Rail Plan
§1601 Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA)
This program, also continued from TEA-21, provides three types of credit
financing methods for nationally or regionally significant projects. The minimum
threshold for projects is lowered to $50 million. Eligible projects include public
freight rail facilities or private rail facilities that demonstrate public benefit.
§9002: Rail Line Relocation Grants
This new $1.4 billion rail program provides states with funding to mitigate the
adverse effects of rail traffic on safety, motor vehicle traffic flow, community
quality of life, or economic development by relocating railroad lines away from
downtown areas. Fifty percent of the funds are dedicated to projects of $20
million or less; states or non-Federal entities must pay at least ten percent of
project costs.
§9003: Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing
This program provides direct loans and loan guarantees to various public and
private entities, including railroads, joint ventures that include at least one railroad,
for projects that are solely for the purpose of constructing a rail connection
between a plant or facility and a second rail carrier for plants served by no more
than a single railroad.
§9007: Study of Rail Rehabilitation and Regulation
This is a new $1.8 million program to evaluate the status of the national rail
system since the passage of the Staggers Rail Act of 1980. This study will be
conducted by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of
Sciences. The study will consider the performance of the nation’s railroads
regarding service levels, service quality and rates; projected demand for rail
service over the next 20 years and the constraints to meeting that demand;
effectiveness of public policy in balancing the business needs of the railroads with
those of shippers; future role of the STB in regulating railroad rates, service levels
and the railroads’ common carrier obligations if/when railroads become “revenue
adequate.”
STATE PROGRAMS
Most of the states participated in the Federal program in the 1970s and 1980s
when it was well funded, although many states, mostly outside of the Northeast
and Midwest, were slow to get involved. At that time, the Class Is owned most
light density lines. The principal issue was branch line abandonment as the larger
carriers sought to rationalize their systems in an attempt to address their financial
problems. Abandonment cases were common and were fought on both the
planning (with assistance funding) and regulatory fronts.
Today, the problem is assisting short line operators. As a result of the spin-off
process that was made possible by railroad deregulation, short line operators have
inherited the vast majority of the remaining Class I branch lines. Many short line
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