Capacity Improvements – Who Pays and When? was the subject of a presentation made by RLBA Vice President Walt Schuchmann on March 19, 2009 in Chicago at the “Creating Capacity” conference sponsored by Railway Age magazine.
You can download the presentation here.

The freight railroad industry is united in the belief that additional capacity is needed to meet expected demand in the immediate future. New or increased passenger service on the freight network will exacerbate that need. Expanding capacity, whether through infrastructure construction or changing operating practices, usually costs money. Railroads are seeking favorable government action or outright injection of government funds. The issue of who pays – always a touchy one – is timely in the face of potentially increasing involvement in capacity expansion by government entities, passenger rail services and rail customers. Fortunately, useful precedents exist in agreements among freight railroads, passenger rail services and governmental entities which demonstrate innovative approaches or worthwhile principles.

The presentation addresses what capacity is, what consumes capacity and what expands it before reviewing a number of useful precedents.

Download the presentation here.