RAIL Solution

Work Continues on a National Steel Insterstate Coalition
05/01/10
At the top of RAIL Solution's goal for 2010 is formation of a Steel Interstate Coalition.  We have revised and updated our briefing paper.  We have produced two new fliers for use at conferences, fairs,  and conventions.  Copies of these three  items can be downloaded by clicking here:
Steel Interstate White Paper
National and I-81 Corridor Vision Flier
90-sec Overview Flier
Meanwhile work continues on the development of a Steel Interstate website. The finished product will not be available  until late June, but you are invited to view a place-holder site while work is in progress: www.steelinterstate.org

RAIL Solution Comments to FRA on National Rail Plan
04/15/10
The Federal Railroad Administration has issued a draft National Rail Plan and has opened a docket for public comment: FRA-2010-0020-0001.  The Plan and the Federal Register notice containing full instructions for response are available through the FRA website.  RAIL Solution has submitted our Steel Insterstate paper as well as responses to the ten specific questions / issues posed by the FRA.

RAIL Solution participates in Chicago Transportation Forum
04/10/10
RAIL Solution menbers participated in the April 10 Chicago forum -- Transportation, Community and Climate Change: Seizing the Opportunities, presenting our vision for the Steel Interstate in the future of transportation in America.

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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.