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Publicly-owned local and regional railroads are a great idea and are already a proven success in parts of the country.
>The Lake County Railroad (reporting mark LCR), based in Lakeview, Oregon, United States, is owned by the Lake County government and operated by Frontier Rail as the Lake County Railway (LCY). The LCY hauls products for both the perlite mine and lumber from the Collins Fremont Sawmill.
>In March 1985 the SP filed to abandon the line and the abandonment was approved 5 months later. The county stepped in to save the route, vital to local businesses and the state legislature enacted a law permitting local governments to own railroads outside of the state, and then the Oregon State Lottery agreed to fund up to 85% of the purchase price if the county could find an operator. The county went to work, and the Great Western Railway, an established shortline based out of Colorado, agreed to operate the line on a contract basis.[1] Lake County purchased the line from SP on January 18, 1986, to keep the line open.
>Tacoma Rail (reporting marks TMBL, TRMW) is a publicly owned Class III shortline railroad. It is owned by the city of Tacoma, Washington and operated as a public utility. It is one of three operating divisions of the municipally-owned Tacoma Public Utilities service, but unlike other city services, the railroad is self-supported and generates revenue for the City of Tacoma and Washington state. Tacoma Rail provides freight switching services, serving the Port of Tacoma and customers in Tacoma, south Pierce County and parts of Thurston County. It operates 16 diesel locomotives, more than 100 employees and about 140 miles of track, many of which are former Milwaukee Road and BNSF Railway lines around Western Washington.
There's no reason why every county, municipality, and/or state couldn't do the same and efficiently operate their own railroads. For interstate and long-haul shipments, the Class I transcon mainlines could be nationalized.
