(The following story by Jeff Sturgeon appeared on the Roanoke Times website on August 18, 2010.)
ROANOKE, Va. — Business, labor and environmental representatives united in Roanoke on Tuesday behind a proposed tax cut to bolster freight railroads.
A group calling itself the BlueGreen Alliance said increased investment in freight railroads will create needed new jobs, conserve oil through a reduction in truck traffic and, in turn, reduce air pollution.
“We’ve got to have people back to work to get this economy going,” said Jeffrey Collins, a Tennessee-based general chairman of the Sheet Metal Workers International Association, which represents rail employees.
Bruce Wingo — a vice president at Norfolk Southern Corp., the $8 billion freight railroad based in Norfolk — voiced support for the tax credit proposal as well. He said the tax credit would help the railroad pay for future upgrades necessary to meet the growing demand for freight services.
Wingo repeated the oft-quoted line that a train can move a ton of freight 436 miles on a gallon of fuel. The source of the claim, the American Association of Railroads, also says a train can carry the freight of 280 to 500 trucks.
The U.S. industry, which stands at more than 500 freight railroads and more than 180,000 employees, is three times the size it was in 1950 in terms of tonnage hauled.
But advocates say more growth is possible and note that rail transportation work paid an average wage of $26.33 hourly, nearly 30 percent more than the average for all occupations of $20.32 in 2008.
The BlueGreen Alliance and Go21, a freight railroading advocacy group, announced support for a proposed federal income tax credit for private, rail-related capital investments spelled out in H.R. 1806, which was introduced in 2009.
Earlier this month, Congress received a Senate version of the measure, which is based on the concept that even if it offsets potential government revenues, a tax credit makes sense because freight railroading returns public benefits.
One dollar spent on rail infrastructure yields $3 of economic activity, according to a report released jointly by the BlueGreen Alliance and the Economic Policy Institute.
Each $1 billion in additional spending on freight rail capacity — such as track and trains — will create 7,800 jobs, the report said.
Tori Williams, representing the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, spoke in favor of the tax credit.
He said one capital project the chamber supports is a planned intermodal rail yard in Elliston jointly funded by NS and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation to the tune of $35 million, including road work.
“There are a lot of local businesses that are very, very excited to get that project under way,” Williams said.
The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, however, filed suit to block the facility from being constructed. The case is ready to be argued before the Virginia Supreme Court, said Kathleen Wright, a county attorney.
Meanwhile, in another capital-intensive project, Norfolk Southern is scheduled next month to begin running double-stack trains along a newly improved corridor between Norfolk and Chicago after work to raise the clearances of 28 tunnels.
The Heartland Corridor project cost $151 million shared by NS and various governments.