Local leaders call on USDOT, STB, FRA to preserve freight-rail system

As infrastructure legislation progresses through Congress, dozens of local leaders issued a letter last week to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin Oberman and Federal Railroad Administration Deputy Administrator Amit Bose to underscore why rail policy should support and preserve a healthy freight-rail system.

The letter signers, which included more than a dozen state legislators and local elected officials in transportation leadership positions, stated that thriving freight railroads help the Biden administration on two of its top goals, economic recovery and combating climate change.

"To meet economic needs disrupted during the pandemic, maximize returns on expected infrastructure legislation, and secure long-term economic growth while meeting the moment on climate change, we need freight railroads to do even more," they wrote.

Freight railroads reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 75% over trucks and were central to stabilizing supply chains throughout the pandemic, according to a GoRail press release.

GoRail organized the letter, which can be read here.