At the same time, private carriers are losing out to trucking because trucking doesn’t pay a fair cost for the use of roads and RRs have to pay to upkeep their tracks. In the end, it may have been better for them to be able to offload the infra costs.
Due to this, they followed the model of minimizing infrastructure, equipment, and crew expenses which left them with slow service only good for a sliver of shipping. The freight RRs are efficient from a monetary cost standpoint but people are willing to pay more to get something quickly and they can’t compete on speed.
If someone else owned the tracks, and leased capacity, the track owner would try to maximize the use of tracks and clear trains quicker and provide new services. We’d see the complete opposite effect, the return of passenger trains, improved signaling, and maybe even electrification.
re: trucking. I agree the industry essentially gets "free infrastructure", although in their defence the "gas tax" concept was designed to cover these costs and heavy users are the top payers of that tax. (I do realize gas tax is now just general revenue pretty much everywhere)
Due to this, they followed the model of minimizing infrastructure, equipment, and crew expenses which left them with slow service only good for a sliver of shipping. The freight RRs are efficient from a monetary cost standpoint but people are willing to pay more to get something quickly and they can’t compete on speed.
If someone else owned the tracks, and leased capacity, the track owner would try to maximize the use of tracks and clear trains quicker and provide new services. We’d see the complete opposite effect, the return of passenger trains, improved signaling, and maybe even electrification.