San Antonio, TX — Texas infrastructure faces many challenges, but freight rail stands out because of its robust network and private investments, writes Jeff Moseley, Texas Association of Business president and CEO, in a recent op-ed for the San Antonio Express-News. He penned the piece after attending Railroad Day on Capitol Hill in May.
“Fortunately, I was in D.C. to highlight one of our few infrastructure bright spots — Texas’ 52 freight railroads and the privately owned nationwide rail network that delivers for Texas businesses. Many people don’t realize that freight rail is an industry that operates through its own private spending, not taxpayer dollars. BNSF, for example, plans to spend $400 million on its Texas network this year alone, and Union Pacific spent $450 million here in 2018.
“Every year, freight railroads reinvest billions — 40 cents of every revenue dollar — in the track, equipment and technology that keeps trains running and connects U.S. businesses and agricultural producers to each other and the global marketplace. This spending has correlated with steady increases in efficiency over the past several decades, meaning shippers today can move about twice what they could in 1980 for half the cost.”
