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Yesterday, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) introduced the Freight Rail Economic Development Act of 2009.

The bill proposes to provide capital grants that would fund the construction or rehabilitation of rail switches and sidings in parts of the country with insufficient or underutilized freight-rail infrastructure. The legislation aims to restore and renew economic development opportunities in locations hardest hit by the recession, according to Nadler, who serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

“Depressed economies, like those we have in upstate New York and many other industrialized parts of the Northeast, would benefit greatly from an improved and expanded freight-rail infrastructure,” he said in a prepared statement. “New switches and sidings could mean new jobs and opportunities for regions working to bring in investment.”