Short line railroad services

Evidence

Observed facts, source documents, stakeholders, constraints, and open diligence are separated from inference.

Authority Path

ROW, NEPA, STB, Buy America, BABA, safety responsibility, and owner-standard questions are surfaced early.

Decision

The output is a next-action memo. Proceed, pause, kill, or gather specific evidence before engineering spend.

wedge_fit

Short lines are a fragmented, local-capacity-rich wedge for focused rail upgrades.

Claim claim_short_line_wedge · Confidence medium · Caveat: Needs project-by-project economics and shipper commitment.

incumbent_machine_baseline

Existing high-output track renewal machines already automate major track-work steps.

Claim claim_high_output_machine_baseline · Confidence high · Caveat: New machines must beat current best practice, not manual crews.

FRA Track Safety

Map applicability before scope claims

Required owner: track owner / responsible railroad

FRA Roadway Worker Protection

Identify responsible party and exclusions

Required owner: roadway worker employer / railroad

FRA Bridge Safety

Do not opine on capacity without qualified review

Required owner: track owner / bridge engineer

FRA Grade Crossing

Flag crossing authority path

Required owner: railroad / road authority

FRA Signal and Train Control

Exclude or route to signal specialist

Required owner: responsible railroad / signal maintainer

Buy America / BABA

Create item-level compliance ledger

Required owner: sponsor / procurement lead

NEPA / Environmental

Classify authority path; do not bury as scalar risk

Required owner: sponsor / lead agency

STB / Common Carrier Authority

Require legal screen before buildability claims

Required owner: sponsor / rail counsel

Right of Way

Use as hard gate before scoring

Required owner: owner / sponsor

Procurement / Contracting

Add contract archetype and exclusions

Required owner: sponsor / contracting lead