RAIL Solution

RAIL Solution and other groups criticize I-81 Freight Rail Study
02/15/10
On January 14, Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation issued the long-awaited Draft Final Report of the I-81 Freight Rail Study. It suffers from nearly all the shortcomings detailed in the Nov. 18 posting below, and completely ignores the comprehensive scope of work detailed in HB-1581.  Below you can find comments on the Freight Rail Study by RAIL Solution and other interested parties.
RAIL Solution
Rockbridge Area Conservation Council
Shenandoah Valley Network
Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation
Sierra Club of Virginia
Coalition for Smarter Growth
Virginia Organizing Project

RAIL Solution Comments on Draft Final Report of I-81 Truck to Rail Freight Diversion Study
11/18/09
In this paper we critique the October 27, 2009 Draft Final Report entitled Feasibility Plan for Maximum Truck to Rail Diversion in Virginia's I-81 Corridor. Instead of adhering to the scope of work set out in the original enabling legislation in 2006 (HB-1581), the Study has wandered off course to become little more than a validation of Norfolk Southern's Crescent Corridor proposal.

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The NS Crescent Corridor - What it Does for Virginia and Where it Falls Short
10/23/09
Norfolk Southern's multi-state Crescent Corridor intermodal initiative includes Virginia. NS is asking states, including Virginia, and the federal government to contribute to the project's cost. In return, NS is promising to remove hundreds of thousands of trucks annually from the highways in participating states. Senator Warner's office asked RAIL Solution to comment on the benefit vs. cost of the project, and this paper was prepared pursuant to that request. In it we show why our Steel Interstate pilot project for the I-81 Corridor would be a more worthwhile public/private partnership, and make a meaningful impact on I-81 truck volumes.

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RAIL Solution Featured Prominently in TRAINS!
10/03/09
In a cover article in the November, 2009 issue of TRAINS Magazine on the future of railroad electrification, RAIL Solution's Craig Thorpe lithograph of an electrified Steel Interstate caliber railroad in Virginia is featured on pp. 24 - 25. The painting was commissioned for RAIL Solution by Hal Cooper of Kirkland, Washington. The TRAINS article also mentions Phillip Longman's Washington Monthly article and research by Alan Drake, both of whom RAIL Solution has relied on in promulgating its vision for a National Steel Interstate System.  See the TRAINS article here.

Action Needed to Support the I-81 Steel Interstate Pilot Project
6/19/09
We are mobilizing a broad campaign to urge Governor Tim Kaine to overrule his Secretary of Transportation. Secretary Pierce Homer is thwarting the will of the people of western and southwest Virginia and east Tennessee, where over 46 local governments and regional planning body resolutions calling for a Federal "Steel Interstate" rail pilot project along the I-81 corridor have been presented to members of Congress.

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Campaign for Steel Interstate Pilot Project Begun in I-81 Corridor
1/18/09
RAIL Solution has begun work to secure grassroots support for a steel interstate demonstration in the I-81 Corridor between Knoxville and Harrisburg.  We are working to secure resolutions from local governments and MPOs, and endorsements from elected officials.  The economic stimulus bill and the upcoming transportation act reauthorization represent an unparalleled opportunity to launch the steel interstate concept.

Rationale
Sample Resolutions & Endorsements
View Current Resolutions & Endorsements

The heavy consolidated truck flow density shown here between Knoxville, TN and Harrisburg, PA make this portion of the I-81 Corridor an ideal candidate for a pilot demonstration project for the National Steel Interstate System.

Click here for FHWA maps showing the heavy consolidated truck flow