Railroads: How Well Do Private Ownership and Public Safety Mix?
Rail freight cargo these days is very different from the cargo traditionally transported by private rail freight carriers: It is more toxic and more explosive.
Today, nearly 400 hazardous substances, including ethylene oxide, anhydrous ammonia, chlorine gas, Bakken crude oil, spent nuclear fuel, and liquified natural gas, are transported at high speeds through densely populated areas.
Perhaps even more distressing, shipments of hazardous and security-sensitive cargo—military bombs, rockets, warheads, torpedoes, mines, grenades, ammunition, projectiles, and even fireworks used as distress signals—can be embargoed and held by private railroad companies on privately owned property.
Why? To control congestion or, as they did last September, to hold hazardous and security-sensitive cargo ahead of a potential railroad workers strike.
However, many people are concerned about the adequacy of security at storage areas for embargoed cargo, who might have access to them, and what protections are in place to prevent potential threats from terrorists. Beyond that, some are questioning whether hazardous substances and security-sensitive cargo should be under the control of a handful of private railroad companies.
A call for public ownership
Just last fall, Railroad Workers United adopted a resolution calling for railroads to return to public ownership. “Since the North American private rail industry has shown itself incapable of doing the job, it is time for this invaluable transportation infrastructure—like the other transport modes—to be brought under public ownership,” the group said in a press release.
Rail workers point out that the public ownership of rail infrastructure in other countries, and of roadway, waterway, and air travel infrastructure in the U.S., shows that public ownership works.
In fact, the U.S. government effectively nationalized private rail infrastructure for 26 months during World War I when private rail companies failed to effectively move the nation’s freight and passengers. Shippers, passengers, and rail workers alike agreed that the railroads operated far more effectively and efficiently during this time span. Despite rail unions’ unanimous support of continued public ownership once the war ended (the “Plumb Plan”), ownership of railroads was returned to the private sector.
Sierra Club’s La Coalition Rail Safety Campaign contends that the public’s interest would be better served if such cargo were secured and guarded under governmental and military authority.
