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Federal Document Clearing House
Congressional Testimony
December 6, 2000, Wednesday
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 1507 words
COMMITTEE:
SENATE COMMERCE, SCIENCE AND TRANSPORTATION
HEADLINE: TESTIMONY RAIL PASSENGER SERVICE (F. H.)
TESTIMONY-BY: H. GRAIG LEWIS , VICE PRESIDENT,
CORPORATE AFFAIRS
AFFILIATION: NORFOLK SOUTHERN
CORPORATION
BODY:
DECEMBER 6, 2000 TESTIMONY OF H.
CRAIG LEWIS VICE PRESIDENT, CORPORATE AFFAIRS NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORPORATION
UNITED STATES SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE AND TRANSPORTATION
SUBCOMMITTEE ON SURFACE TRANSPORATATION AND MERCHANT MARINE RAIL TRANSIT 1 am
Craig Lewis, Vice President, Corporate Affairs for Norfolk Southern Corporation.
Our group takes principal responsibility for new passenger service proposals
within our geographical territory. We appreciate the opportunity to participate
in this hearing because Norfolk Southern and Georgia mean a lot to each other.
Our spider web of lines touches virtually every corner of the state. The riches
of Georgia's forests, fields, mines and factories fill dozens of our trains
headed in all directions everyday. Atlanta is one of the most important
junctions in the 21,000 mile Norfolk Southern system. As the hub of five
important mainlines, it anchors the southern quadrant of our railroad. The
freight that comes from Atlanta's manufacturing, distribution and consuming
markets constitute a meaningful part of Norfolk Southern's business. A
comparable statement may be made about what Norfolk Southern means to Georgia
and to Atlanta. Every year well over a million freight cars pass through the
state on our rails. In Atlanta alone, a half-million cars of freight begin or
end their journey in the metro area. That's the equivalent of two million or
more trucks that aren't on 1-20 or 1-85 or 1-75. The 5000 Norfolk Southern men
and women who keep the trains rolling in Georgia add hundreds of millions of
dollars to the state's economy each year. And NS spends hundreds of millions
more on goods and services in the Peach State, including construction of new
facilities to handle our growing freight business and maintenance of our track
to keep it safe and in good repair. Further, our industrial development group
helps industries - freight generating, tax paying, job-providing industries - to
expand their factories or build new ones. This is an activity that pumps
hundreds more millions into the Georgia economy. Our fastest growing business is
intermodal freight - the transport of truck trailers and containers on trains
over long distances. This freight generates more revenue for our income
statement than any other commodity in Atlanta. Our biggest customer of this, our
biggest business segment, is Atlanta's own United Parcel Service. The public
benefits of a vibrant rail freight system are enormous. Freight trains perform
behind-the _scenes delivery of new cars and trucks, food and drink, building
materials, packages, and parcels and coal to make electricity. Without us, the
good life would be a lot more expensive and the Interstates would be a lot more
crowded. Despite the volume of freight moving in and around Atlanta, and the
critical importance of the heavy-duty main lines to our collective well being,
there are possibilities that routes can be developed for passenger service
fairly quickly. We are willing to pursue win-win partnerships with public
agencies on these lines. There are certain ground rules we need to follow where
new passenger service is concerned: Safety - must be enhanced Liability and
Indemnity - NS cannot be exposed to any new or additional liability by the
presence of passenger trains. Capacity - the presence of passenger trains cannot
diminish the capacity of a line to handle its existing freight service and must
provide for anticipated freight growth. Compensation - NS expects to be fairly
compensated for the use of its track and right-of-way. Passenger service on the
heavily-used mainlines is problematic and figuring out how, if at all, passenger
trains can be accommodated requires a great deal of work and analysis. It is
important to appreciate that new passenger rail proposals are not a low cost,
snap your fingers, overnight solution to commuter traffic congestion. As a
practical matter, however, we know that freight and new
passenger service can co-exist because it's recently been done
elsewhere in the U. S. - in the Pacific Northwest, California, Virginia, New
Jersey. It may be possible to do it here in the Atlanta area as well. Regardless
of the route used, starting new passenger service is a difficult and expensive
proposition (although not nearly as expensive as new highway construction). If
the resources are available, and if the right routes can be identified, Norfolk
Southern is prepared to move forward. The key, and the goal, is to commit
ourselves to a new partnership. Where public interests promote the movement of
people, and the goods they use, each of us can see a better day ahead.
LOAD-DATE: December 13, 2000, Wednesday
