Citation

Purnell LO, Yoder EJ, Sinha KC. Transp. Res. Rec. 1977; 634: 39-40.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1977, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of how a shift in transportation demand, which could result from the abandonment of a branch rail line, might affect the roads of a rural area. The paper introduces an evaluative methodology that can be used to estimate the impact of rail-service discontinuance on rural highways and bridges. Two areas in Indiana that were faced with possible loss of direct rail service were investigated with respect to the impact that abandonment would have on local highways and bridges.

RESULTS of these studies indicate that the abandonment of lightly used branch lines does not have as great an impact on rural highways as some highway and railroad interest would like to believe. Many of the rail facilities that have been proposed for abandonment in the Northeast and Midwest do not carry sufficient traffic volumes to cause significant impacts on nearby highways if service along these lines were discontinued.