From: johnl@iecc.com   
      
   >Without revenue from freight operations, the NE corridor is not econmically   
   >viable.   
      
   Amtrak's NECIP summary says that on a typical day the NEC sees 2300   
   passenger trains and 50 freight trains, mostly at night to avoid   
   conflicts with passenger traffic.  That's under 2.5% of the trains.   
   There is no freight through NY or Baltimore due to the tunnels.   
      
   A table on cost sharing says that of the $431 million of shared   
   infrastructure costs, $20M is attributable to freight, $258M to   
   Amtrak, and $153M to commuter rail.  Cross-subsidization is   
   specifically prohibited, so freight pays its 4.6% share of costs.   
   Freight trains are much longer and heavier than passenger trains, so   
   it makes sense that the fraction of costs would be higher than the   
   relative number of trains.   
      
   The NECIP plan says freight will continue to be important, but because   
   shippers need the capacity and there's no room on the parallel   
   highways, not because Amtrak needs the money.   
      
   --   
   Regards,   
   John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",   
   Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. http://jl.ly   
      
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