The hearing, “America Builds: Examining America’s Freight and Passenger Rail Network,” included witnesses Ian Jefferies, President and CEO, of the Association of American Railroads (AAR); Chuck Baker, President of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA); Joe Daloisio, Chairman of the National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association (NRC); and Jared Cassity, Alternate National Safety and Legislative Director of the Sheet Metal Air Rail Transportation–Transportation Division (SMART-TD).
“In the time since Staggers [Rail Act of 1980] was signed into law, moving goods by freight rail has become cheaper, more efficient, and safer,” the new Subcommittee Chairman, Daniel Webster (R-Fla.), said in prepared opening remarks. “Ensuring that the industry continues to grow without excessive and unnecessary government burdens is a key consideration that should be factored into any actions toward freight rail taken by Congress, or the Executive Branch.
“While this hearing will focus on America’s freight rail network, it will also touch upon improving and constructively growing intercity passenger rail to best serve America’s needs. Passenger rail works best where demand is high, competition and private sector involvement are ample, and a dependence on government support is low. …
“As you know, the current surface transportation authorization expires this Congress, and discussions have begun assessing the nation’s infrastructure needs. The Committee’s work on surface reauthorization legislation will require us to be both principled and pragmatic. Building and supporting America’s rail network involves cutting red tape, improving safety through technology and innovation, encouraging private sector involvement and competition, and decreasing dependence on government funding and control.
“Today’s witnesses will be able to provide us important insights into stakeholder views on these topics, and I look forward to their testimony.”
Railway Age provides a roundup of the prepared testimony below.
AAR
AAR’s Jefferies outlined a series of “overarching principles” that should guide surface transportation reauthorization. Adherence to them, he said, “would enhance our nation’s ability to transport people and goods safely, efficiently, and cost-effectively.” Among the principles:
- “Restore the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) to a true user-based system.” “The taxes and fees trucks pay to help maintain our nation’s roads and bridges have not been substantially changed since 1993, resulting in a multi-billion-dollar annual underpayment compared to the damage they cause,” Jefferies reported. “Congress should remedy this modal inequity by either increasing the fuel tax or imposing a vehicle-miles traveled fee or a weight-distance fee for motor carriers. An appropriate user fee would be self-sustaining; would not increase taxes or fees for non-highway transportation modes; and would create a competitive tax environment across modes.” On a related note, he said, “Congress should reject calls to increase federal truck size and weight limits until, at a minimum, trucks pay the full cost of the damage they cause to our roads and bridges.” Given rail’s “inherent environmental advantages and the many other benefits of moving freight by rail,” he pointed out, “imposing artificial impediments to rail, such as increasing federal truck size and weight limits, is not sound policy.”
- “Improve safety by allowing railroads to innovate and deploy safety technologies.” “Autonomous vehicle technologies and other technologies impacting transportation vary in their stage of development, presenting challenges and opportunities that railroads must be able to address,” Jefferies reported. “This means railroads must themselves look to new technologies to make their operations safer and more efficient. The use of technology to improve safety and efficiency is nothing new for railroads, but it’s taken on a new urgency as transportation markets have evolved. The further use of emerging technologies to enhance rail safety and operations, however, will be needlessly stunted if regulators at the FRA [Federal Railroad Administration] and elsewhere in DOT fail to embrace technological change, or if they lock in existing technologies and processes so that new innovations and new technologies that could improve safety and improve efficiency are stifled.” Jefferies offered the example of automated track inspection. “Safety data collected from automated track inspection programs clearly support further deployment of this important technology,” he said. “Unfortunately, due to the existing regulatory framework, the railroad industry is prevented from using the optimal combination of automated track inspections and manual inspections that would yield significant safety benefits. As a result, this regulatory framework creates disincentives for the development and use of emerging technologies that would ultimately enhance rail safety and efficiency. Railroads will continue to develop and implement new technologies, but achieving maximum benefit will require regulatory flexibility that allows railroads to find what works best and encourages railroads to keep investing in those technologies.”
- “Provide robust funding for and streamline safety-enhancing grant programs.” “The safest grade crossing is the crossing that is not there,” Jefferies reported. “That’s why the elimination of grade crossings yields the biggest safety benefit, and why railroads strongly support the Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant Program (RCE). … Railroads commend policymakers for creating and funding this important program and respectfully suggest the program should be expanded.”
- “Support funding public entities that partner with host freight railroads.” “The freight rail industry supports funding for grant programs that enable the public sector, including state and local governments, to partner with freight railroads and others to advance projects of mutual interest that improve the overall fluidity of supply chains, reduce highway and port congestion, improve safety, facilitate passenger rail, and improve the quality of life for communities,” said Jefferies. The U.S. Department of Transportation grant programs that should continue to be authorized at existing or increased levels, he said, are the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA); National Infrastructure Project Assistance (Mega); Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE); Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI); and Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail (FSP).
- “Streamline the environmental permitting process.” “While efforts to cut red tape associated with infrastructure project approval and construction have borne some fruit in recent years, more can still be done to fast-track routine rail construction projects without ignoring environmental or historical preservation concerns,” Jefferies reported. “For example, policymakers could codify that, for rail projects whose purpose is to replace existing infrastructure on existing operating railroad right-of-way, a categorical exclusion and a finding of no significant impact are the only NEPA documentations necessary. In addition, policymakers could convert to statute select executive orders on streamlining the permitting process, such as timeclocks, intermediate deadlines, and One Decision. Policymakers could also continue to streamline the ‘Section 106’ historic preservation process for projects needed to enhance or maintain rail infrastructure.”
- “Oppose policies that harm railroads’ ability to operate safely and efficiently.” Jefferies said policymakers “should oppose proposals mandating two crew members in freight locomotive cabs”; avoid technology mandates, noting, for example, that “advances in on-board monitoring systems and automated data collection are likely to be just as effective, or more so, in detecting potential problems without the need for fixed wayside detectors at prescribed distances”; carefully proscribe potential “legislative or regulatory actions aimed at granting access to railroad rights of way to non-railroad entities, such as telecommunications companies”; and “ensure that employers whose employees conduct safety-sensitive activities each day, like the railroads, maintain the ability to drug test employees for marijuana usage and treat positive tests as proof of unacceptable employee conduct.”
Jefferies also addressed cargo theft. While not in the scope of traditional surface transportation authorization, he noted, “[t]hese thefts have become more organized and sophisticated, with the total costs for the freight rail industry anticipated to exceed $100 million annually for 2024.” Jefferies said federal resources must be allocated to combat the problem. “A dedicated federal response is crucial to disrupting these criminal elements, supporting ongoing enforcement efforts, and protecting the integrity of the freight rail system,” he said. “This intervention must be paired with timely, efficient, and effective prosecutions at the federal, state, and local levels of the individuals and organizations committing the thefts.”
Jefferies concluded: “Freight railroads stand ready to work with you to ensure that our nation’s transportation needs are met in a responsible, environmentally sound, and safe manner.”
ASLRRA
ASLRRA’s Chuck Baker offered the Subcommittee the following surface transportation authorization priorities for short lines:
- Short lines and transportation grant programs, including CRISI (Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements). “CRISI is critical to upgrading short line infrastructure and enabling major projects,” Baker reported. “To do that effectively, to help America build, funding must be both robust and predictable. Current CRISI funding levels are $1 billion per year in advance appropriations through Fiscal Year 2026, with up to an additional $1 billion per year possible through discretionary appropriations. Maintaining or expanding these funding levels is a top priority for short lines. The advance appropriations provided in the current surface transportation reauthorization bill created funding stability and predictability that has been particularly important for the short line community and rail shippers nationwide.” He pointed out that if the next surface transportation reauthorization bill were to authorize CRISI but not provide any advance or guaranteed appropriations, “that would be a step backwards.” Baker also pointed out that “Congress has been eager to collaborate and work in a bipartisan way to strengthen CRISI and other programs important to short lines, and we are appreciative of the commitment.” He noted, however, that ASLRRA “discourages set-asides within CRISI for passenger rail projects or expansions of the program to include major new eligible applicants such as commuter railroads.” While the association has no opposition to passenger rail, “there are other federal grant programs which provide passenger rail applicants with funding levels that dwarf CRISI.” By contrast, Baker said, “CRISI is essentially the only federal grant program for which short lines are a viable competitor.” Additionally, short line projects, he noted, “provide an excellent bang for the federal buck and tend to produce meaningful results quickly with comparatively modest federal investment.” Lastly, Baker reported to the Subcommittee that “CRISI projects need to move from announcement to obligation to completion faster than they currently do,” and also suggested increasing transparency across the grant lifecycle to enable benchmarking and process improvement; prohibiting the U.S. DOT “from establishing policy requirements that are not in law as conditions for grant awardees to achieve obligation”; and improving elements of the National Environmental Policy Act process.
- Modal equity with trucks. “Public policies that support freight rail make sense for Congress to consider,” Baker said. “But at the very least, we ask that Congress not drive policy the other direction and further shift freight to trucks.” Like AAR’s Jefferies, Baker recommended restoring the Highway Trust Fund to a “true user-based” system, and regarding truck sizes and weights, he noted that the association has “urged Congress to refrain from wholesale or incremental changes disguised as pilot projects and waivers to truck size and weight, and we renew that call today.”
- Rail safety regulations. “As any new regulations are considered for what is already a highly regulated industry, we urge that they be focused on solving actual safety problems and be practical for small business short line railroads to implement,” Baker reported. “Further, we encourage Congress to be aware of unintended consequences to broader transportation safety—when regulations increase the cost of freight railroading or degrade freight rail service, they risk shifting freight traffic from the largely privately funded and safer rail network to the largely publicly funded and less safe highway network.”
- Continued federal support for grade crossing and trespasser safety issues. “By far, the most significant areas of rail safety related to interactions with the public are grade crossing accidents and trespasser issues,” Baker said, and he pointed to the success of the FHWA Railway-Highway Crossings Program (Section 130 Program) and the Rail Crossing Elimination program.
NRC
As Congress begins the process of reauthorizing surface transportation programs, NRC’s Joseph Daloisio offered the following recommendations:
- “Provide robust funding for core rail grant programs.” “A strong rail infrastructure is critical to the vitality of our nation’s economy,” Daloisio reported. “The NRC supports funding at existing or increased levels for rail grant programs that improve efficiencies, safety, and environmentally friendly freight and passenger rail transportation. These funds will also help stimulate additional infrastructure investment by states, localities, and private sector partners. The Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant program, in particular, is a vital source of funding for the industry to address key safety improvement projects. In addition to CRISI, other critical grant programs at USDOT should be provided with as robust funding as possible in the next reauthorization bill, including FRA Rail Crossing Elimination, passenger rail funding through the Federal-State Partnership and Amtrak grants, INFRA, Mega, RAISE, Rural Surface Transportation, and MARAD Port Infrastructure Development Program.”
- “Cut red tape.” The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) “provided unprecedented levels of funding for key rail discretionary grant programs, which has been key in improving both the freight supply chain as well as enhancing passenger rail in the U.S.,” Daloisio said. “However, the speed at which grant agreements have been executed has been way too slow. By the time the construction phase begins, a number of variables, most notably the increase in costs, jeopardizes the successful execution of these important projects. We encourage Congress and the new Administration to deliver grant funding in a responsible but more expedient manner.”
- “Support increased competition.” “The NRC strongly supports increased opportunities for contracting out and competition within these [government grant] programs to stretch federal funds further,” Daloisio said. “Increased flexibility for railroads and commuter rail agencies to contract out work will benefit the industry. This is not an attempt to take work from in-house labor forces, rather it is intended to help the industry as a whole perform more work more efficiently.” Additionally, in new reauthorization, NRC “would recommend inclusion of language clarifying that States who sponsor, but do not operate intercity passenger rail services, are not classified as railroads, nor are they railroad carriers,” he said.
- “Focus on safety.” “We urge Congress to use data-driven solutions that would effectively increase the safety of the rail network and avoid policy changes that would place unnecessary or excessive mandates on the rail industry that would not enhance rail safety,” Daloisio reported. “In the wake of the February 2023 derailment incident in East Palestine, Ohio, numerous legislative proposals have been floated that have no relationship to the derailment, no relevance to safety, and are unrealistic to implement. In addition, the speed at which both the government and the railroads adopt new technologies and the speed at which technology-related projects are funded have a negative impact on the growth of our businesses and the industry. Our member companies exist to help the railroads move people and goods more safely and efficiently, but we will not grow quick enough if technology adoption and project phases do not move faster.” According to Daloisio, NRC also supports “maintaining existing federal truck size and weight maximums.”
- Boost workforce development. “We welcome any initiatives to further educate and recruit workers into the rail industry,” Daloisio said. “The NRC has worked diligently with veterans groups, trade schools, colleges and universities in this area and we would embrace additional collaboration in this effort.”
- Reform the permitting process. “Though this seems to be a top priority for every surface transportation reauthorization bill, the unfortunate reality is that the permitting process for rail projects still moves way too slow,” Daloisio said. “The NRC supports efforts to speed up the federal permitting and review processes in order to deliver critical infrastructure projects without delays and on reasonable timeframes. NEPA and other processes involving multiple federal agencies and levels of government still cause too many delays and unnecessary duplication which prevents many worthy projects from getting the green light.”
- “Build America and Buy America.” Though NRC members are not direct recipients of federal funds, Daloisio said, “historically NRC members are interested in requirements regarding the American production of materials used in supply and construction,” and “appreciate any efforts to ensure that these mandates come with the recognition that they may be exceedingly difficult to satisfy, and thus the waiver process should be fair and efficient.”
SMART-TD
“As we look to the future, the continued investment in passenger rail throughout the United States is not only a critical step forward in addressing transportation needs but also an investment in our economy, our workforce, and our future,” reported SMART-TD’s Jared Cassity. “Over the past few years, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (IIJA) has laid a foundational framework for this transformation by granting five years of advanced appropriations for passenger rail development. This funding has played a pivotal role in accelerating the progress of intercity passenger rail and has brought us closer than ever to realizing the vision of a high-speed rail network that can compete with the best in the world. Unfortunately, there is no passenger rail line in operation today—anywhere in the world—that came into existence or continues to operate successfully based solely on fare box revenue. These systems are, first and foremost, investments in the infrastructure of nations and in their economic growth. Without the necessary funding to ensure their development, construction, and maintenance, passenger rail will not be able to reach its full potential in the U.S., nor will it be able to sustain current levels of service. The importance of continued government commitment cannot be overstated. Maintaining, operating, and expanding our passenger rail network is a complex and large-scale endeavor that requires public investment to guarantee success.”
Cassity also pointed out that rail investments not only generate “significant benefits for the American people,” but also create a “vast number of good-paying union jobs in the building and maintaining of the necessary infrastructure.” Moreover, he said, “adequately funding for passenger rail will create a competitive market that will directly challenge the air and auto industries,” driving “innovation, lower prices, and improve[d] services for all travelers.”
Cassity also addressed training. “With the federal government investing heavily in the expansion of rail infrastructure, including through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and other programs, there is a clear opportunity to require [rail] carriers to invest in high-quality training programs for their workers,” he said. “The federal government has the power to link funding and new market opportunities to the implementation of robust training and safety programs.” He noted that SMART TD recently secured a $600,000-plus grant from the CRISI program to help invest in “training programs that supplement deficiencies in the carriers’ programs.” An identified gap in carrier program training, he said, “is the lack of formal training for conductors and engineers who are tasked with overseeing On-the-Job Training (OJT) for new hires.” SMART-TD, he said, “is working to develop a comprehensive training curriculum for conductors and engineers focused on improving OJT practices and ensuring that new hires receive consistent, high-quality instruction,” and it is “pursuing the development of online training tools and are actively seeking partnerships with railroads to expand the reach of these training programs.”
Cassity urged the Subcommittee “and the whole of the 119th Congress to recognize that the safety of rail workers and the communities we serve must be prioritized.”
