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The railbeds may still be there, but they were either in the wrong place and unprofitable, or now they have been converted to bike paths.

Please read the article:

BNSF and UP are investing about $200 million in a project that will eventually expand what had been a two-track line into three tracks for the entire 75-mile length. A 15-mile stretch will get a fourth set of tracks, BNSF spokesman Pat Hiatte said.

We're talking about widening an existing ROW (pretty clear if you bother to read the article) and laying new track. Like I said before, it will take far longer to acquire the money, property, plan and lay the track than anything else.

Am I claiming there will be no beauracratic hurdles? No, I'm not. But there is a huge beauracratic difference between starting from scratch and expanding an existing rail line. Your rants may be justified for the construction of a new nuclear power plant, but they're plain silly here.

You got it Tinian. I believe the new RR mentioned has existing rt of way mostly in place also. Apparent problem on UP , BNSF caused by accumulated, spilled coal dust deteriorating the roadbed. Deregulation has alleviated or cured many RR inefficiencies of the past. The last thing we need is more govt intervention.

Yes, I did bother to read the article.

"Today's railroads use a rail system that had not added track and other infrastructure for decades. In fact, before 2003, railroads had been abandoning miles of unprofitable and underused lines."

And I did read about the addition of one 75 mile stretch. BFD in the entire scope of the issue. My position is that the coal-fired plants and the problem of feeding them via railline is an idea whose time has come to pass. How many gallons of diesel fuel are we willing to commit to run these deliveries when our refining capacity is stretched too the max. Wouldn't it be a benefit all the way down the line to move away from coal-fired plants to something that doesn't require the expenditure of vast quantities of fuel, steel, and land? My original beef was that nothing is being done to address these problems, either now or in the future. That doesn't sound silly or rantful to me. I mean, really, a rant? I only used caps at the start of the sentences, not the whole sentence. Hardly a rant by any stretch.