California State Rail Plan 2007-08 to 2017-18

Chapter XVIII – Fundingincluding expansion in an effort to keep up with growth. In order to encourage therailroads to spend more money, they believe investment tax credits that supportcapital spending make sense.Two recently introduced bills, S. 1125 and H.R. 2116 call for a 25 percent taxcredit for investments in new track, intermodal facilities, yards, locomotives andother infrastructure projects to expand rail capacity. All businesses, includingrailroads, ports, shippers, and trucking companies would be eligible for the credit.Among the points rail proponents of the bills make are fuel efficiency over thetrucking industry, less highway congestion, reduced pollution with increasedfreight rail transport, and safety issues – fatality rates associated with intercitytrucking are four times greater than those for freight rail.Shifting millions of truck moves per year to rail is good public policy. It reduceshighway congestion and air pollution, and increases safety. Federal tax creditssuch as the 25% investment tax credit for Class Is, and the 50% investment taxcredit for short line railroads (HR 1584, due to expire at the end of 2007) wouldhelp railroads expand capacity faster than they would otherwise.PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP (P3) AND LOCAL INITIATIVESThere are also other regional and multi-state freight rail projects in addition tothose listed above. These projects are often supplemented with federal funding,for the improvement of specific corridors that are either planned or underway.These include:Mid-Atlantic Rail Operations Study – New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,Maryland and Virginia. This is a five state project, with the states working inconcert with Amtrak, the I-95 Coalition, Norfolk Southern Railroad, and CSX.The project would include infrastructure reconstruction, capacity enhancements,height and weight clearances, and terminals. The projected cost is $6.2 billionover 20 years.A specific regional project, which combines state, regional and local initiatives isthe Washington State “FAST” corridor – This “Freight Action Strategy”program encompasses 15 priority freight projects between Everett and Tacoma.It includes rail-highway grade separations, rail yard improvements, port access,and regional highway improvements. The total cost is unknown. The projectincludes participants from the state, regional governments, three ports, 12 cities,and two counties, the BNSF and UP railroads and the Washington TruckingAssociation.The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), Norfolk SouthernCorporation, and the Port of Wilmington completed a $13.9 million rehabilitationof the venerable Shellpot Railroad Bridge. Under the terms of the uniqueconstruction agreement, DelDOT agreed to fund the cost of restoring the bridge253