Recent Accident May Spark New Railroad Tax

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

An accident, at an Arkansas railroad crossing in February, may result in a new tax impossed upon the petroleum products the railroad uses. The accident happened in Hempstead County, Arkansas, on February 19. An ambulance carrying a patient was struck by a freight train, the patient lived, however, all three ambulance crewmen died.

House Resolution 1030 requests a study by the House Interim Committee On Public Transporation. The results of the study will be to suggest legislation for the next regular session of the Arkansas Legislature in 2007.

According to the Arkansas Highway and Transporation Department it would cost more than $500 million to install gates and flashing lights at the 2,019 (Arkansas) railroad crossings. They said that only 30% (of Arkansas railroad crossings) now have active warning devices, the rest have either a stop sign or railroad crossbucks. Signals and crossing gates can cost as much as $220,000 for one crossing.

2

wooohooo…lets tax the people even more for safty devices that most will just ignor anyways… man i love how someone always comes up with the idea that if you just through more money at it…the problem will then ago away
csx engineer

3

Actually the tax is on the products the railroad uses but you know how that goes. The railroads will pass on the cost of the tax to the shippers who will then pass on the tax. So ultimately it will be the people who wind up paying the tax (then driving around the lowered gates getting struck by the loco).

4

It sounds like a hidden tax. What would happen if the put a surcharge on AR license plates? I can just hear the howl!

5

And when all is said and done they will still drive around the gates. What a joke.

6

Death and taxes are inevitable, they say. The grade crossing collision answer MAY BE to, through profiling, severely tax in advance those who will die at grade crossings. That may wake people up …