Improved passenger service

Develop rail passenger technology for utilization by Amtrak.

High-speed rail

Develop improved track structures and gain a better understanding of track/ train dynamics.

Advanced systems

Develop a technological base for tracked levitated vehicles for demonstration in the 1980-90 time frame.

Supporting technology

Develop advances in the state-of-the-art of electric propulsion systems, communications and tunneling and guideways.

High-speed ground test center

Provide a location for full-scale testing of conventional ground transportation systems and components, structures and advanced systems.

TEN-YEAR OUTLOOK ON RAIL TRANSPORTATION

Mr. MCFALL. What type of surface transportation system do you feel we will have 10 years from now, and is your program of research designed to get us there?

T. INGRAM. First of all, in passenger transportation we are working toward higher speed passenger transportation as well as dependable passenger transportation. We think this requires some attention to the question of what kind of equipment should be bought to handle passengers in the intercity movement.

Of course, that is what the specification-producing research effort is all about. We want to determine what sort of locomotive-hauled passenger cars, should be used, especially in the markets that rail passenger service can serve competitively, let us say up to 300 miles between cities.

We think 10 years from now you will see much higher speed passenger operations in this country, much cleaner passenger operations, and much more dependable passenger operations.

ELECTRIFICATION

On the freight side, we would like to see introduced into the operation many aspects of modern technology that are presently available but out of reach for financial reasons, especially electrification. We would like to see a good bit of electrification for many reasons.

First of all, on high-speed lines and heavy-density lines, electrification produces some reductions in cost.

Second, on any line, electrification gets rid of the consumption of diesel fuel and allows you to use power plants that can use any type of fuel that is available.

We would like to see increased reliance on modern signaling systems and modern car control systems so car utilization is increased. Presently, it is at rather a low level. We know it can be increased.

We know that the railroads that have concentrated in this area have produced substantial increases in car utilization. We would like to see a national system linking all the railroads to improve the total car utilization picture.

As everyone knows, we have had car shortages this year. We will continue to have car shortages. The car-producing industry of the country is working at capacity. You could not buy a freight car today for delivery earlier than late 1976.

The most available pool of freight cars are those presently rolling on the railroads. If we can increase their utilization to any marked extent, we can do a lot more to reduce car shortages.

UTILIZATION OF RAIL CAR FLEET

Mr. MCFALL. What is the percentage of use of the rail car fleet? Mr. INGRAM. It is probably up to about 7 percent, or something like that. We have had remarkable success in the approach to the movement of grain; in fact, much more than we hoped to have. We actually moved about 40 percent more grain during the Russian grain sale when all of that traffic was moving, than had ever been moved before in the history of the country. We did it by sending teams of railroad people, FRA people, ICC people. Department of Agriculture people, out in the field to find out what was wrong and fix it on the spot. It seems to work a lot better than making speeches and all the rest of it.

Mr. McFALL. It might have been better if we had not been so efficient.

Mr. INGRAM. The fact remains that a considerable volume of traffic was moved that had never been moved before.

FRA REPORT ON ELECTRIFICATION

Mr. McFALL. Earlier this month you issued a report which called for a sizable Government role in planning, research, and financial assistance to the Nation's railroads for electrification of high-density lines. Would you put in the record a summary of that report and your recommendations?

Mr. INGRAM. Yes, sir.

[The information follows:]

SUMMARY OF REPORT ON ELECTRIFICATION

The task force on railroad electrification was established to review and consider the major factors associated with electrification and to propose Government and industry policy as to the development of railroad electrification. It did not undertake to deal with the questions of whether, where, when or why to electrify specific lines since those are economic and operational issues best left to individual railroad managements.

Based on studies available to it, the task force arrived at the following conclusions.

(1) Railroad electrification is the only available alternative to diesel-electric operations on high-density, long-haul railroad lines.

(2) Electrification offers the only feasible means to utilize coal or nuclear power for intercity movements of general freight and passengers.

(3) Modern rail electrification technology is available for application. (4) While electrification has been shown to have a positive rate of return on the projected investment, electrification of high-density lines has not been widely adopted by American railroads because of more pressing capital requirements or more attractive investment opportunities.

(5) Railroad electrification presents a number of as yet unresolved regulatory problems for railroads and utilities.

(6) The development of railroad electrification in an orderly and efficient manner can best be facilitated by a joint Government-industry program where substantial improvements in national transportation efficiency can be achieved. The task force recommends actions to be undertaken by Government and industry in the interest of achieving substantial gains in national transportation efficiency as well as promoting energy-effective transportation strategies. These recommendations take into account that the Nation is embarking upon efforts to become selfsufficient in energy and that, of all modes of transportation, only rail can be feasibly converted from petroleum fuel to coal or nuclear-fueled electric energy.

The word "industry" is meant to include the railroads, the railway supply industry, electric utilities, electric manufacturers and suppliers, financial institutions, and others concerned with railroad electrification.

(1) The Department of Transportation should be given appropriate planning and funding authority to cooperate with industry in development of and in financing railroad electrification where substantial improvements in national transportation efficiency can be achieved.

(2) The Department of Transportation should undertake a cooperative research and development program with industry to continue to advance the technology of railroad electrification,

(3) Legislation dealing with railroad improvement should permit assistance for railroad electrification projects where substantial improvements in transportation efficiency can be demonstrated.

ADVANTAGES OF ELECTRIFIED SYSTEM

Mr. McFALL. Do you see a great future for rail electrification? Mr. INGRAM. It depends on what you mean by "great future." We can see about 6,000 miles of railroad that ought to be electrified today because the return on the investment is positive and it is considerable. It is much greater than the return on investment enjoyed by the railroad industry today.

Mr. McFALL. Is, there a better use of energy in electrifying the railroads?

Mr. INGRAM. Is there a better use of energy?

Mr. McFALL. Can you move more ton-miles per Btu?

Mr. KLEIN. The actual consumption of energy, Mr. Chairman, is probably about the same with electrification as it is with a good diesel system. However, you do have major flexibility if you use an electrified system. You are not dependent on petroleum products for your fuel. In effect, you can use central station powerplants which can burn coal or nuclear fuels-complete flexibility.

Electrifying helps particularly in conserving those fuels that are in the shortest supply.

Mr. INGRAM. There is another aspect, too, from the standpoint of the power companies. More freight moves at night than during the daytime. Usually nighttime is when power companies have excess capacity that can be used. It is low-cost power.

From the railroads' standpoint, electrification provides increased availability of locomotives. A diesel locomotive has to go to the shop much more often than an electric locomotive because it has more components to it that can go wrong and need fixing.

The higher availability of electric power means that you get your return on investment on the railroad by running more trains and pulling more tons with a reduced number of locomotives. To the extent you can do this at night, this produces benefits to the power company as well.

Mr. McFALL. There is a considerable loss in the generation of electrical energy by conventional methods from coal and oil. You have the same loss with diesel fuel, don't you?

Mr. INGRAM. Yes. In fact, you probably have a slight additional loss in that the size of the powerplant is smaller and, hence, the heat losses are more apt to take place. They are less able to control them in a small setup than in a large, fixed plant setup. But in total differences are not exceptional.

Mr. McFALL. Mr. Conte, do you have some questions?

PLANS FOR ELECTRIFICATION OF NORTHEAST RAIL LINES

Mr. CONTE. In regard to electrification about which the chairman was asking, are you planning for electrification of the Northeast passenger rail lines?

Mr. INGRAM. Yes. I think it is not just passenger rail lines, but freight lines as well. The freight line is one of the heaviest density lines in the United States, in excess of 40 million gross ton-miles per mile of line from Washington, D.C. to just before you get to New York City. After that, on the way up to Boston, it is a rather light freight line, but, of course, still a heavy passenger line.

Remembering that one of the efficiencies of electrification is the ability to get high utilization out of the power equipment and looking at the train frequency in the Northeast, both north and south of New York, it is apparent that electrification is probably the way to go and probably has a good return on investment over doing it some other way.

Mr. CONTE. If I correctly remember, that was all electric at one time, was it not?

Mr. INGRAM. No; I do not believe it was ever electrified north of New Haven.

Mr. CONTE. From New York to Boston in the old days?

Mr. INGRAM. No, sir. I think the old New York and Boston Railroad, if I remember the name of it, was, but that one went bankrupt. The Shoreline of the New Haven, as I recall, was never electrified north of New Haven.

Mr. CONTE. I was reading in a New York Times article that the Soviet Union has 25 percent of its railroad system electrified. Mr. INGRAM. That is correct.

Mr. CONTE. West Germany, 29 percent; Britain, 16 percent; Switzerland. 99 percent; Norway, 57 percent; Netherlands, 52 percent. Yet, the United States has less than 1 percent.

Mr. INGRAM. That is correct, sir.

PROBLEMS INVOLVED IN ELECTRIFICATION

Mr. CONTE. Can we see this being done in the immediate future? Have you any specific plans in this field during fiscal year 1975? Mr. INGRAM. There are two problems in electrification.

First and most important is that it costs a lot of money to build powerplants, new locomotives, and so forth. The railroads, with their average 2-percent return on equity, are really not in a position to

finance major projects. That is one of the abilities we hope to give them with the Transportation Improvement Act.

The second difficulty that you face in electrification is the availability of power in some areas of the country. There are some areas where electrification will have to be contingent on the availability of power sources. Railroads, of course, cannot run on so-called interruptible power. They must have an assured power source.

There is a third problem, too, which is more an institutional problem than anything else. There has not been any major rail intercity electrification in this country since the thirties. Most of the people who did that electrification are no longer active. There is a lack of people who are qualified in the field. It has not been done for many years.

I think there is a tremendous rush to be second in electrification among the railroads. They would all like to see someone else do it first so they can get the benefit of their mistakes.

Mr. EDWARDS. Is that not, then, an area where research is needed? Mr. INGRAM. I think so.

Mr. EDWARDS. So in effect there is no first, but everybody is second! Mr. INGRAM. I think it is an obvious area where a demonstration project would be quite helpful.

Mr. CONTE. That was to be my question. Why not a demonstration project?

Mr. INGRAM. Yes. We may well use the Northeast corridor for that purpose since it is, as I said before, one of the heaviest density freight lines in the United States.

ROLE OF ADVANCED SYSTEMS VEHICLES

Mr. CONTE. You are again requesting substantial funding for advanced systems. We will cover this request in more detail as we discuss your justifications. However, can you tell us what role these systems such as a 150-mile-per-hour air cushion vehicle, a 300-mileper-hour air cushion vehicle, and a magnetically levitated vehicle, will play in our Nation's transportation system?

Mr. KLEIN. Let me answer your question in a couple of parts. First, with respect to the 150-mile-per-hour prototype vehicle you referred to, we view that type of system as having application in relatively short distance trips up to 50 or 75 miles, the kind of thing that is in and around an immediate urban area. Airport access is an example that is getting a fair amount of consideration. We think for that type of transportation and that speed range, you will be limited to those kinds of applications.

In any such case, one has to consider the specific circumstances, because some of the advanced wheel-on-rail vehicles also can run at that speed. If you have a good rail line in being, you probably will want to use that, rather than build a new guideway for a levitated vehicle.

The bigger use that we can see for these advanced systems that we call tracked-levitated vehicles, whether they are air cushion or magnetic, is to fill the void of the type I am about to describe.

We see for those systems application in high-density corridors up to 300 or 400 miles in length, where the traveling public has come to