Jan 18, 2010

Railroad industry to chug back at full speed through High Desert

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By: Natasha Lindstrom - Daily Press

As trucks routes get overcrowded and major exporters demand cheaper transportation, the U.S. railroad industry is expected to rebound over the next several years, generating scores of new jobs and industrial growth in the High Desert.

Cleaner and more cost-effective than trucks, trains are on track to chug toward a full speed comeback — in spite of a the rail industry’s recent downturn, according to analysts, politicians and some investors.

The second richest man in the world, Warren Buffet, recently committed $34 billion to railroad giant Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. Fort Worth-based BNSF has invested hundreds of millions of dollars bolstering its Southern California operations in recent years, including completing a third track over the Cajon Pass in 2008.

By 2035, the U.S. Department of Transportation forecasts that demand for rail shipping will increase nearly 90 percent.

A prosperous railroad industry would be a boon to California, where more than 4,000 miles of railroad tracks link West Coast ports to the rest of the country, stretching up the Cajon Pass toward Barstow and beyond. The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports transport roughly 40 percent of all goods the U.S. receives in containers from overseas.

“The rail industry is really the backbone of our economic strategy for the High Desert, in that intermodal distribution and warehousing operations are expected to drive a significant amount of our job growth over the next several decades,” said 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt.

For the full story, read Thursday's Daily Press.