(The following report appeared on the Richmond Times-Dispatch website on December 6.)
RICHMOND, Va. — The nation is facing a transportation crisis, the head of Norfolk Southern Corp. said here last night.
Virginia and the U.S. have an aging, overloaded transportation infrastructure, and that situation is going to get worse, President and CEO Charles W. Moorman said.
Meanwhile, America’s trading competitors overseas — China, Europe, India — are making huge investments in their transport systems, he said.
The Norfolk-based railroad serves all the major ports of the eastern United States, linking its customers to markets around the world.
“If a butterfly flaps its wings in China,” Moorman told the World Affairs Council of Greater Richmond last night, “the odds are good that will have a ripple effect on Norfolk Southern.”
It will cost nearly $150 billion for America’s railroads to meet burgeoning demands to haul freight over the next several decades, he said.
But Moorman said he had some good news: “We’re from Norfolk Southern, and we’re here to help.”
For instance, the rail giant can rather quickly take a million tractor-trailers a year off truck-clogged Interstate 81 in Virginia at a cost of between $2 billion and $3 billion.
“It’s a lot easier and a lot faster to tack on another track to a railroad than to add another lane to a highway,” Moorman said.
While his company is willing to make infrastructure investments that will have public benefit, he said, “we can’t bear it all.” The public sector also has to be willing to put money into the rail system.
Virginia has approved spending $22 million in state funds to help Norfolk Southern rebuild rail tunnels and make other changes to speed container shipments from Hampton Roads and to the Midwest. The federal government is putting up $95 million for the 1,100-mile project.
Still, Moorman said, “we’re going to have to have more help.” He called for a 25 percent federal investment tax credit to help pay for new rail capacity.
Moorman spoke to about 70 people at the World Affairs Council program at the Omni Richmond Hotel.
Norfolk Southern operates about 21,300 miles of railroad in 22 eastern states and Canada.