Railroad Day on Capitol Hill
Every year, railroad lobbyists come to Washington DC to make their case to Congress. They touch on key railroad related issues in an effort to stabilize and sustain important industry issues for the future.
Whether you are a railroad contractor, supplier, or investor - this day give the industry a voice to discuss why the railroad infrastructure should continue to be a prominent issues for congress. The industry is always changing, but currently, at the 2011 railroad day on the Hill - here are the hot button issues that were pressed:
1) Enabling the freight industry to maintain and more importantly, create new jobs
2) Continue to invest in the railroad infrastructure to keep it evolving with the times
3) Support and extend railroad related tax credits
4) Improve safety issues related to the highway-railroad grade crossings across the US
Some of the contributors from the railroad side included the Association of American Railroads, Railway Supply Institute, United Transportation Union in addition to several other railroad related organizations and groups.
This annual event certainly isn't a game whereby people are keeping score - so it is difficult to measure how successful a given day in front of lawmakers is. However, generally it is believed that the industry and lobbyists got its message across at the 2011 day on Capitol Hill.
One issue was the continued debt crisis that hangs over congress like a cloud. This is obviously at the forefront of most everyone in DC's mind so it was difficult for the important railroad issues of today to take center stage. This often happens when lobbying congress as the fact is - there are bigger issues that the nation is dealing with. However, railroaders did have the chance to present themselves and impact would be made. And while some bigger issues sometimes take center stage, the railroads have been around well before those issues were here, and railroads will likely be here much longer than some of the bigger issues are here as well. Fortunately, it looks like Day on The Hill is here to stay and anyone with a vested interest in the industry should try and make it to the event one of these years.