The objective of the paper is to determine if short line railroads are an economically viable alternative to abandonment of rural rail branchlines. The objective is pursued through a survey that involves personal interviews of executives of 13 short line railroads in Iowa and Kansas, 309 shippers located on these railroads, and officials of the Iowa Department of Transportation. The executives and the shippers also completed detailed questionnaires. The shippers compared the performance of their short lines to that of their predecessor Class I railroad on 17 price and service characteristics, Both grain and non-grain shippers rated the price-service performance of their short line as better than that previously provided by their Class I railroad, with the grain shippers observing a greater improvement than the non-grain shippers. Shippers compared the performance of short lines to that of motor carriers on 13 price and service characteristics. Both grain and non-grain shipper groups rate their short lines as better than motor carriers on prices, but motor carriers are rated better than short lines on service characteristics related to market access, transit time, dependability of transit time, and frequency of service. The paper also specifies a profile of a profitable short line railroad. The profile contains several components including traffic, management and labor, relationship to Class I railroads, financial, track quality, and state assistance. Results reveal that short lines offer a competitive transportation service and are economically viable, assuming that short line service can be profitably supplied in the long run. (A)
Abstract