Word: conrail
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...several cities, notably Denver Seattle and Portland, Ore., mass transport now carries nearly 50% of all commuters. In gas-starved southern Connecticut and Westchester County, the number of passengers elbowing their way onto Conrail's already crowded Manhattan-bound trains has increased sharply...
...Greenwich, Conn., the EPA has even successfully sued another quasi-independent federal agency, Conrail, and forced it to stop using a coal-fired generator that produces electricity for commuter trains. The generating plant is being converted at taxpayer expense to burn the very fuel the White House is trying to discourage-imported...
Still, there have been some achievements. Before Conrail's creation, the New Haven division of Penn Central was a shambles. Now, after large contributions for new equipment by New York State, Conrail operates the line with a good on-schedule record. Throughout the sprawling system, the roadbed, key to a smooth ride, is being rebuilt. By year's end Conrail will have installed 13.9 million crossties and laid 2,787 miles of continuous welded rails. It also will have acquired 392 new locomotives and 5,900 new freight cars, paid for entirely by private financing...
...Conrail has managed to consolidate the 285 labor contracts that it inherited into only 35, and it has gained union approval to cut the crew on a freight train from four to three. Says Charles Swin-burn, a Department of Transportation rail expert: "If you had taken the best railroad management in the country-the Southern Railway's, for instance-I don't know whether they would have done anything differently from the Conrail management...
...large degree, Conrail's ills only reflect the wider problems besetting the nation's railroads. Though a healthy rail system is more essential than ever to save gasoline and carry coal, the industry has been held back for years by overregulation by the ICC, which keeps rates high in order to protect inefficient lines-and thus often makes the railroads uncompetitive with rival transport systems...