Preliminary System Plan, Volume II: For Restructuring Railroads in the Northeast and Midwest Region Pursuant to the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973

Details

• Corporate Creators:
  United States Railway Association
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Abandonment Bankruptcy Bibliographies Economics Financing Marketing Regional Planning
• Publication/ Report Number:
  USRA/R-021.1 Prel. Rpt
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Right Statement:
  Public Domain
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Edition:
  Volume 2 of 2
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States Railway Association
• Abstract:
  The United States Railway Association’s Preliminary System Plan, Volume II, issued February 26, 1975, continues the restructuring analysis begun in Volume I by focusing on light-density rail lines, railroad marine operations, community impacts, and line-by-line recommendations for bankrupt railroads in the Northeast and Midwest. While Volume I presents the broader framework for creating ConRail under the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973, Volume II provides the detailed basis for deciding which marginal lines should be included in the proposed ConRail system, which should be eligible for rail service continuation subsidies, and which might be discontinued or transferred to other operators.
  
  Volume II treats light-density lines as a central challenge in balancing two statutory objectives: preserving adequate rail service for shippers and communities while creating a financially viable, for-profit regional rail carrier. It attributes the decline of many branch lines to long-term structural changes, including traffic diversion to trucks and waterways, shifts in industrial location, redundant rail capacity, deferred maintenance, and declining local traffic. USRA therefore rejects indefinite internal cross-subsidization by ConRail and applies a line-specific viability analysis based on traffic, revenues, costs, physical condition, growth potential, and alternative service options.
  
  Historically, Volume II is significant because it supplies the detailed evidence behind one of the most sensitive elements of the Preliminary System Plan: the proposed reduction of the inherited eastern rail network before ConRail’s creation. It translates the broad restructuring principles of Volume I into specific branch-line and marine-service recommendations, while preserving a role for public hearings, state review, shipper input, subsidy decisions, and further revision before the Final System Plan.
  
  
• Content Notes:
  Result of the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973. Sponsored by U.S. Congress. See also PB-239846, RRIS #25 095416, RRIS Bulletin 7502.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  Pub. Law 93-236
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:220a5c8665c117965a083ff2fba6f872841ce7f74dc5834ff0fbc98d5bfd3ee9ba7b8b2f30e4eb317d829ed533c527af75e77fabff9aed678c62362682c37c7d
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/91983/dot_91983_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 21.64 MB ]