Oct. 20, 2005
 
Byrd Efforts Yields $1 Million to RTI Railroad Research Program
 
By HNN Staff
 
Huntington, WV (HNN) – U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall D-WV announced the Federal Railroad Administration, through the efforts of U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-WV, has awarded another $1 million grant to the Rahall Transportation Institute (RTI) to continue its research program on railroad engineering.
 
"My thanks go out to Senator Byrd, once again, for his efforts in bringing critically needed dollars to West Virginia," Rahall said Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2005. "He has helped put Marshall University on the global map for railroad engineering research and the researchers at the Rahall Transportation Institute have him to thank for their many successes."
 
"This program is a perfect exercise in what I call the critical three T's-transportation, technology and tourism. Researchers are helping improve our state's physical transportation infrastructure in addition to helping prepare our citizens for well-paying transportation careers and creating new transportation businesses and jobs in our state."
 
One of RTI's original studies contributed to the development of the Heartland Corridor which will develop a new train/truck transfer (intermodal) facility in Prichard WV. RTI also initiated a railroad conductor pre-employment training program at Marshall University Community and Technical College in 2003 which helped place over two hundred West Virginians in the railroad industry at jobs that start at $36,000 and will average $62,000 per year after five years. Furthermore, the railroad safety researchers have developed new technologies to monitor rail lines vulnerable to landslides and or flooding for several locations in WV now being used in other parts of the country. The results from the work in WV appear to be so popular that a new national surveying business with several new jobs will most likely open up adjacent to MU in Huntington.