ABSTRACT
By the late 1960s the US rail industry was in crisis. A major cause of this crisis was the loss of business to other modes. Passenger traffic was declining as automobiles and air transport drew away a large share of the market. In the freight business the railroads were losing the higher value (and higher revenue-generating) goods to trucking. A transport mode that had laid the basis for the industrial and agricultural development of the US was facing financial collapse. This trend has been repeated also in many other parts of the world.
