Wichita, KS — Brecken Morel, interim president and CEO of the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce, makes the case for evidence-based freight rail policy in an Aug. 28 op-ed for The Wichita Eagle, arguing that the surface transportation bill now moving through Congress should reward innovation rather than lock railroads into outdated inspection practices.
Morel points to Wichita’s own supply chains as proof that freight rail is core infrastructure for the region’s economy, not just another industry to regulate.
“Good safety policy should be based on evidence. It should target demonstrated risks, encourage innovation, and measure results — not prescribe operating practices that may add costs without improving outcomes.”
The concern: provisions in the House version of the bill would require railroads to follow federally prescribed inspection practices instead of continuing to invest in tools like automated inspection portals, machine vision, and predictive analytics — technology that can catch problems while trains are still moving. Morel argues that approach risks freezing safety technology in place just as it’s improving fastest, at a moment when key federal safety measures hit record lows in 2025.
The stakes reach well beyond the rail industry. Kansas farmers depend on rail to move grain out and fertilizer in, manufacturers depend on it to stay price-competitive, and the freight that doesn’t move by rail typically shifts to trucks — adding wear to public highways and cost to taxpayers.
“Freight that doesn’t move by rail often moves by truck instead, adding congestion, increasing wear on publicly funded highways, and raising infrastructure costs for taxpayers. Today, freight rail in Kansas keeps the equivalent of roughly 17 million trucks off our roads each year.”
Morel calls on Sen. Jerry Moran and the Senate Commerce Committee to preserve investments in infrastructure and grade crossing safety while rejecting mandates that aren’t tied to demonstrated results.
“A freight rail system that is safe, efficient, and free to continue investing in new technology will serve Wichita — and the entire Kansas economy — far better than mandates that look backward instead of forward.”
