Landmark legislation turned around the rail industry's miserable financial situation

摘要

Oct. 14, 2020, marked the 40th anniversary of the Staggers Rail Act. For those who weren't around then or are not familiar with the rail industry's condition before this legislation was passed and signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on Oct. 14, 1980, I thought an overview of Staggers, along with the conditions that led to this law, would be of interest to readers. The "good old days" of the U.S. railroad industry, namely in the 1960s and '70s, were not good at all. For the most part, they were miserable. After World War Ⅱ in 1945 and the end of the Korean War in 1953, two significant events occurred. First, all of the heavy railroad traffic that supported America's war effort dropped significantly. Second, although personal automobile travel and motor truck freight were present to some extent before and during the war, the two modes took off afterward. Additionally, commercial air travel growth in the 1950s and '60s, particularly jet service, was a big nail in the coffin of long-distance intercity railroad passenger service.