Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976

Signed February 5, 1976, the Act provided federal funding to rehabilitate the bankrupt northeastern railroads consolidated into Conrail, which began operating April 1, 1976. It barred the ICC from finding a rate unreasonably low if it covered variable cost, limited maximum rate review to railroads with market dominance, set deadlines for ICC merger and abandonment decisions, and funded Northeast Corridor improvements. Its pricing reforms proved too narrow and were expanded by the Staggers Rail Act of 1980.

The 4R Act matters mainly as background to today's concentrated rail network and its pricing. The market dominance test it introduced still decides whether shippers can challenge a railroad rate before the Surface Transportation Board. For example, a shipper served by a single railroad can seek rate relief only if the railroad has market dominance over that traffic, a structure that began in 1976. For e-commerce shippers using intermodal service, its main legacy is Conrail, whose network was split between CSX and Norfolk Southern in 1999.

• Intermodal FreightFreight moved by rail and truck in one box

• Conrail1976–1999 · A federal railroad rebuilds bankrupt Northeast lines
• Penn Central Bankruptcy1970 · The largest US railroad files for bankruptcy

• Staggers Rail Act of 19801980 · Deregulated US freight railroad rates and contracts
• Interstate Commerce Act of 18871887 · First US federal law regulating railroad rates
• ICC Termination Act of 19951995, effective 1996 · Abolished the ICC and created the STB

1. Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act, Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org